Chapter 7

This weeks reading discussed alcohol and tobacco use. It was interesting to me to learn that more Americans consume alcohol than those who do not consume at all. It was also interesting to read the demographics associated with alcohol consumption. Men are more likely than woman to consume alcohol and poor families are less likely to consume than non poor families. I was SHOCKED to learn how many Americans die from tobacco consumption, and if not death the health concerns associated with tobacco use are ample. I learned that alcohol is among the most commonly used substance for college students. This was somewhat expected however because almost all of my classmates when discussing their weekend include stories involving alcohol. I have always thought that mixing alcohol with energy drinks is very dangerous and the chapter confirmed this for me. I never knew that mood can actually effect the absorption rate of alcohol. If alcohol is absorbed more quickly to those who are tense, this makes it extra dangerous to drink when you are upset which a lot of people actually do. I hardly ever drink, but when I do I will usually have a beer or two. Learning that a beer can contain about 150 calories made me sick! There are many effects alcohol can have on the body both short and long term and after learning about some of these including memory impairment (long term) made me want to stay away from drinking for the most part. Drinking and driving has been something on my radar since I was in high school. It is a very serious thing to me, however I feel as though a lot of people my age don’t think it is as big of a deal as it actually is. To learn that there are approximately 10,000 deaths related to drinking and driving a year is repulsive. Smoking is never something that interested me, and I’m glad especially after learning about all of the harmful substances found in a cigarette including arsenic! YIKES! After learning about the risks from environmental tobacco smoke, or second hand smoke I will not let my friend smoke around me! I knew second hand smoke was bad, but learning about all of the health hazards associated with this makes me angry that I have ever put up with someone smoking in my presence. It infuriates me when I see a mother or father smoking around their children as they are putting them at risk! To see that quitting cigarettes can benefit your health in as few as 20 minutes shocked me. This should be more motivation for the to quit!

Although I do not drink often, I don’t enjoy it enough to be consuming that many liquid calories in just one beer! I plan drinking way less often than I already do because to be honest I’d rather treat myself to a snack than a beer. I also plan on improving my health this week by completely avoiding second hand smoke to the best of my ability. Most people in my life don’t smoke cigarettes, however my brother does and you can guarantee that he’s going to get a lecture about it especially after all of the things I learned from this reading.