A common quandary of nearly everyone who wants to give up alcohol or any other addiction for that matter is timing. When is the right time to quit? And the refrain in our head goes something like this: No point quitting next week because it is my friend’s barbecue. After all it is summer and there will be lots of other barbecues coming up and plus a cold beer tastes really good on a hot day. The fall is not a good time either; too close to Thanksgiving. I absolutely cannot quit during Xmas and New Years. Next March may be a possibility – but that is a long way off, so no point thinking that far ahead. Your reasoning may not be exactly the same, but you get my meaning. (more…)

It’s a story repeated in emergency departments (ED) all over the country. A person is taken to the hospital for alcohol detox and they may or may not want any medical intervention. Treatment might be available for their disease, but they refuse.

A young man was brought into the emergency room with a blood alcohol level of .423, and according to his boyfriend he had been drinking vodka for two days and had not eaten. He didn’t want treatment and was abusive to the medical team. He was a quite nice guy, didn’t look like the type of person who could explode at any moment and launch into an expletive-laden tirade. But the staff soon found out that he was completely out of control, cursing the nurses and when the doctor entered the room for the first time, he spit on him. The police were called.

The ED staff did their best to stabilize the situation and a plan was initiated to get his into detox and then transferred to a local alcoholism treatment facility. His wife was appreciative and tried her best to cooperate with the staff and encourage her husband to comply with the treatment, but it was not to be. His disease had progressed to the point where nothing mattered to his but the alcohol. As he put it when asked if he wanted to quit drinking, “No, I love this stuff. It’s the only thing that’s legal.” His alcoholism had taken over total control of his life. Perhaps there was some remnant of his old self still intact, but he was hard to love. (more…)

You wouldn’t scoff down chocolate bar after chocolate bar would you? At least not without feeling distinctly guilty about it, so why do many women think it’s acceptable to drink far more than the recommended 2-3 units (3-4 for men) of alcohol per day?

What do chocolate and alcohol have in common? In a word – calories.

The number of calories in alcohol is incredibly high with a bottle of wine exceeding 500, a medium glass (175ml) coming in at 125 and even the dieters favourite, the G&T, is a whopping 120kcals. And if you think cocktails are good for you with all that fruit, think again.

While this doesn’t sound too bad in terms of your recommended daily calorie intake, when you consider you’re consuming these empty calories in addition to food, which may be a carb filled dinner to line your stomach or a meal out, it suddenly starts to add up. (more…)

If you’re worried that you or someone close to you is an alcoholic, the fact this is on your mind indicates that it is something worth looking into. There are signs you can look out for that you or someone you know is addicted to alcohol.

Once someone accepts that they have an alcohol problem, they are one step closer to dealing with it. Remember that just one of the following behaviours or symptoms or a one-off event does not necessarily indicate that someone is an alcoholic, but could indicate that there is a problem.

One of the major symptoms of alcoholism is drinking alone and lying about it or covering your tracks so that nobody else finds out. Hiding alcohol is also a classic symptom – if you or someone you know is hiding alcohol at home or at work, it is very possible that alcohol abuse could be happening. (more…)

Creativity has always been one of the desired qualities of any good artist. Besides that, we all need creativity in our daily life to do all sort of complex tasks. Ever since man has always wanted to achieve more, it comes times when we just want to be more creative than before because of the ever increasing challenges that we face. Some people feel more creative in the presence of loved ones while some take inspiration from given places. Today we want to consider the question “Do drugs and alcohol make us creative” or better still “Do they increase our creativity?”

Is this discussion I think the definition of creativity will guide us much. Simple definitions of creativity are:

* the ability to create
* the ability to bring into existence (more…)

There are some alcohol abuse symptoms that we should all know about and be on the lookout for, both in ourselves and in loved ones. Alcohol use and abuse is increasingly common these days and poses a serious risk if it is not dealt with in a timely manner. Of course, not all alcohol use leads to abuse. Many people drink in moderation and it is not a problem. But we should be aware of some alcohol abuse symptoms so that we can recognize them if we see them in ourselves or those we care about and take action when needed.

Physical Symptoms of Alcohol Abuse

Some physical symptoms of alcohol abuse to watch out for include:

· Developing tolerance – it takes more and more alcohol to get the same effects
· Withdrawal symptoms if you try to stop drinking, like shaking, sweating, nausea, and vomiting
· Things like slurred speech, dizziness, or clumsiness while intoxicated
· Having blackouts while drinking
· Loss of weight
· Stomach problems, either pain and/or an upset stomach
· Redness of the face
· Numbness or tingling in the hands and feet (more…)

Life is a precious gift and all through our growing years parents lovingly tend and nurture life, giving us strong healthy bodies that are bursting with vitality. Then we grow up and go off to do our own thing that includes being hell bent on destroying the health and fitness we enjoy. Alcohol is a killer, make no mistake about that! It is wonderful to party and get drunk and we tell ourselves that we are young and life is to be enjoyed. This article covers the repercussions of serious drinking on well being.

Medical research has indicated that a glass of wine or beer or one hard alcohol drink every day is good for the body. Who really stops with one drink? The reason being, alcohol is extremely addictive and once you get caught in its grip, getting out takes some serious effort. Society is plagued by alcoholism, even the young and the saddest part is that the numbers are on the rise, even among pre-teenagers. (more…)

People have been enjoying alcohol for thousands of years. In fact, some archaeological evidence has pointed to the existence of purposely fermented beverages in the Neolithic period at about 10,000 B.C. While alcohol now serves mainly as a social lubricant, it once provided people with the only source of clean, sterilized drinking because water was usually tainted with sewage or other wastes, carrying a number of diseases. Over the thousands of years of drinking, we are learning more and more about the factors that affect our alcohol tolerance.

First, it is important to realize the genetic implications of alcohol tolerance. Some studies have shown that the ability to tolerate alcohol can be passed down genetically. Researchers believe this because descendants from ethnic groups who have long participated in alcohol consumption, such as Europeans, have higher tolerance than groups who have not had alcohol present in their culture for very long, such as Native Americans. (more…)

Drug or alcohol addiction is no doubt a curse in one’s life. Such addiction not only spoils one’s life, but also drastically affects the lives of victims’ near-dear ones. With the progress of time, the victims gradually increase the consumption of drug or alcohol. That’s why, if you or one of your dear ones is addicted to drugs, then without any second thought you need to look into your option as per as detox is concerned.

An effective drug detox program is an absolute necessity for all the drug addiction affected people. In the present times finding out drug withdrawal information and the drug detox programs is not at all a tough job. A wide range of information about the detox process and the treatment center is available over the internet. But, before attending a program you need to properly verify the authenticity of the program.

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Various festivities and celebratory occasions call for a drink. The slight euphoria from controlled alcohol consumption may leave a pleasant feeling afterward but excessive alcohol consumption leads to intoxication which may be dangerous. Due to festivities and occasional drinking, most of us have experienced a bout of unpleasantness the morning after excessive drinking.

Commonly known as hangover, its effects vary from person to person in terms of strength and intensity. It usually involves a headache, inability to concentrate, sickness, dizziness, dehydration, mild diarrhea, tiredness and weakness. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. Listed here are some of the hangover tips to prevent and cure you from a hangover.

Before you start guzzling down that beer or alcoholic drink, remember to fill your stomach with food. Having food will prevent alcohol from entering the bloodstream directly, thus keeping you sober for a longer period of time. You will also need to continuously hydrate your body by drinking water or juice. Alcohol leads to dehydration. That explains why you feel dry in the mouth after a certain amount of alcohol consumption. To be able to think ahead will save you the agony of having to wake up and prepare your hangover cure the morning-after. (more…)