Academic literature on the topic 'Alcohol consumption reduction'

Head injury or traumatic brain injury is a ubiquitous phenomenon in all societies and affects up to 2 per cent of the population per year (Bullock et al. 2006). Although the causes of head injury and its distribution within populations vary, it can have devastating consequences both for the patient and family (Tagliaferri et al. 2006). In some countries severe traumatic brain injury is the commonest cause of death in people under 40 years (Lee et al. 2006), and it is estimated that the sequelae of head injury cost societies billions of dollars per year. Understanding of the pathophysiology, di

Alcohol use disorder involves use of alcohol in quantities sufficient to produce intoxication over long periods and use continuing despite significant alcohol-related problems, resulting in a cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms. Indicators of alcohol use problems include consumption of more alcohol than intended, inability to cut down on use, alcohol craving, excessive involvement in obtaining and using alcohol, continued use despite negative psychosocial and medical consequences, and physiological tolerance to the effects of alcohol and alcohol withdrawal. Complications of alcohol use disorders include social problems, such as legal and marital problems, and medical problems including metabolic and hepatic disease and cancers. Approximately half of people with an alcohol use disorder will experience an alcohol withdrawal syndrome, typically manifesting within several hours or days of reduction or cessation of heavy and prolonged alcohol consumption and typically lasting 4–5 days.

Alcohol produces a range of central-nervous-system-related biological effects, including anxiety reduction, euphoria, sedation, disinhibition, aggression, blackouts, tolerance, addiction, and withdrawal. The Chinese have used alcoholic drinks since 5000 B.C. Presumably, man ventured to drink the liquid from fermented grain, liked the intoxicating effect, and started to make it on purpose. Alcohol has been used as an anesthetic for millennia (see chapter 7). Alcohol is indispensable in medicine as a solvent. Laudanum, a staple of the medicine chest in the nineteenth century, was simply an alcoholic solution of opium. NyQuil, a cough syrup, and Listerine, an oral antiseptic, all contain copious amounts of ethanol. Alcohol has beneficial effects when consumed in moderate amounts. Research strongly suggests that moderate consumption of alcohol, especially red wine and dark beer, seems to have protective effects on the heart. The hallmarks of the Mediterranean diet are olive oil and red wine, and people from such countries have fewer cardiovascular events. Flavonoids, the active principle in red wine, are thought to exert beneficial cardiovascular effects. According to the Bible (Genesis 9:20–21), Noah was the first man who discovered wine: “Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.” The New Testament gives an account of Jesus performing his first miracle—turning water into wine. Despite the beneficial effects of moderate alcohol consumption, excessive use of alcohol damages the brain, heart, and liver. Even mild drunkenness can cause temporary loss of memory. The liver metabolizes alcohol with an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase, which turns alcohol into acetaldehyde. Because acetaldehyde is acutely toxic, people—including many Asians—who lack alcohol dehydrogenase cannot tolerate much alcohol. This is the reason that their faces become flush when they drink alcohol and that there are fewer incidents of alcoholism in Asians. Alcoholism is known to cause psychosis and alcoholic dementia. To fight the “demon rum,” on January 16, 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Eighteenth Amendment, prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors.” It was repealed 14 years later, the only amendment to the U.S. Constitution that has been repealed.

Anaemia is defined by the World Health Organization as a reduction of the haemoglobin concentration to less than 130 g/litre (males) or less than 120 g/litre (females). It is a common problem, with a prevalence around 3% for middle-aged men and 14% for middle-aged women in the United Kingdom, and is seen more frequently with age. There is a much greater prevalence in the developing world. Anaemia can be caused by the defective production of red cells or an increased rate of loss of cells, either by bleeding or premature destruction (haemolysis). The causes of defective production of red cells include (1) deficiency of key haematinics, including iron, vitamin B₁₂, or folate; (2) anaemia of chronic disease; (3) reduced erythropoietin production typically seen in chronic kidney disease; and (4) primary diseases of the bone marrow. Haemolytic anaemias may be classified as either genetic or acquired. The key issues are to determine the degree of disability caused by the anaemia and hence how quickly treatment must be started, and the cause of the anaemia. The main causes of anaemia can usefully be classified according to the associated red cell morphological changes: (1) hypochromic, microcytic—including iron deficiency (the commonest cause of anaemia) and thalassaemia (common in some populations); (2) normochromic, macrocytic—vitamin B₁₂ or folate deficiency, alcohol, and myelodysplasia; (3) polychromatophilic, macrocytic—haemolysis; (4) normochromic, normocytic—chronic disorders, renal failure, and diseases of the bone marrow; and (5) leucoerythroblastic—myelofibrosis, leukaemia, and metastatic carcinoma. The reticulocyte count also provides a good way of thinking about the underlying cause of anaemia—whether due to defective production or excess consumption of red cells.

Obesity is a metabolic disease that arises from excessive energy consumption. The development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease appears to be an early indicator of escalating endocrine and metabolic dysfunction. Fatty liver results in insulin resistance. This is a precursor to type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, steatohepatitis, and cirrhosis. Obesity increases the risk for cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and neoplastic disease. This probably results from a combination of dyslipidaemia, dysregulation of glycaemic control, and ongoing inflammation associated with adipocytokines. Central obesity, characterized by a large reservoir of metabolically active visceral fat, closely correlates with cardiovascular risk, and is the key component of a constellation of symptoms known as the metabolic syndrome. There is little or no epidemiological data available regarding the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome and perioperative risk. No guidelines are available. Risk reduction associated with modulation of the specific components of this syndrome, cardiovascular disease, dyslipidaemia, and hyperglycaemia, are currently in a state of flux.

India does not have large reserves of crude petroleum and spends a huge amount of foreign exchange for importing crude petroleum. The environmental degradation caused by burning of petroleum derived fuels is also causing an ecological imbalance. Research is carried world over on renewable fuels which could either be used as an extender or substitute to petroleum origin fuels and in this context alcohols such as ethanol and butanol have an immense potential. The earlier work on use of alcohols as a blend with diesel in the compression ignition engine has suggested reduction in emissions, howeve

The growing environmental concerns and the depletion of petroleum reserves have caused the development of alternative fuels. Biodiesel and alcohols are receiving increasing attention as alternative fuels for diesel engines due to well oxygenated, renewable fuels. In this study, a single cylinder, naturally aspirated, direct injection diesel engine has been experimentally investigated using ethanol-blended waste cooking oil methyl ester. Various proportion of biodiesel-ethanol blends were used in stability test at the different temperatures from 10 °C to 40 °C in the increment of 10°C. Based on