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ALCOHOL & Alcoholism Selected from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets" ( http://www.terrific-tabs.com ) by John N. Todd III, M. D. (link)
"Doctored":5/01; 9/01; 3/02; 5/02; 6/02; 7/02; 9/02; 11/02; 2/03; 5/03; 11/03; 7/04; 11 /04; 2/05; 8/05; 10/05; 2/26/07 This opinion-piece, written by the author of this website (John N. Todd III, M. D.), was published in its entirety in the Tuscaloosa News, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.... in October 1994. Minor formatting changes are shown in this Internet version. CLICK HERE to go to the "FRONT PAGE" of "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets" CLICK HERE for ALPHABETICAL INDEX of this entire WEBSITE CLICK HERE to EMAIL your thoughts to the author An article entitled "A few drinks a day improves health", appeared recently in the Tuscaloosa News. That article, supplied by the Associated Press, quoted a study reported in the British Medical Journal, indicating that "people who enjoy a couple of drinks a day are 40% less likely to suffer a heart attack or stroke", when compared with non-drinkers. The implication of the article, of course, is that a few drinks a day will magically protect a drinker's health. That's all we need -- another insidious lure for the young, and for the poor and ignorant and unsuspecting -- to be duped into believing that there can possibly be anything "good", or protective, from the consumption of alcohol. Now hear the truth. I must tell your readers (readers of the Tuscaloosa News), here and now, without equivocation. that the harmful "health" effects, and the potentially devastating "social" and financial results of alcohol consumption, immeasurably outweigh any conceivable health benefit. I base that conclusion on my 35 years of experience in treating "private" medical patients, from all walks of life.... and on statistics gathered from my recent review of several reports from the medical literature (some of which I will quote, below). Let me state another obvious truth: there has never been -- not once, in all of history -- a human individual who started consuming alcohol, with the deliberate plan of causing himself to become an "alcoholic". And yet, in the United States, today, there are at least 15 million overt alcoholics -- and many, many more "borderline" alcoholics. Let me repeat: not one of today's 15 million alcoholics ever considered, when he or she took the first drink, that they would ever become addicted to alcohol. And, similarly, not one of them ever started "drinking" for the purpose of "protecting" his health. Addiction to alcohol "happens", insidiously -- in young and old -- to males and females alike. Alcoholism is the devastating result of a flippant public attitude toward "social drinking". And, as we all know, "social drinking", even when not associated with alcohol-addiction, is the source of a huge array of physical, financial, emotional, and societal side-effects. (It is a parenthetical point, but in the Clinton administration's recent health-care "reform" package, the political "spin" on the financing of reform was that the plan could be paid for by a tax on tobacco products. How ludicrous! And just think, no mention was made of additional taxes on alcohol, the major SCOURGE of the world's "health". Hopefully, many Americans will understand the "politics" of why alcohol and drunkenness were neither attacked, nor taxed -- by the Clinton's health reform scheme.) Alcohol is by far the most frequently used harmful "drug", in the U.S. There are many more addicts to alcohol than to cocaine, "crack", heroin, marijuana, etc. And yet, we glamorize the use of alcohol, on TV and in movies. We openly advertise the sale of alcohol. Contrariwise, we imprison other "drug" users, and peddlers. Can anyone rationalize that? In most instances, alcohol is the initial "drug" addiction (a so-called "gateway" drug) -- leading consequently to a combined addiction, involving other substances. Consider the following factual statements, and related statistics: Of the 15 million alcoholics in the U. S., 25 % suffer serious medical complications, including cirrhosis of the liver, gastric ulcers, hemorrhagic disorders, chronic brain damage -- and various other ailments causing absence from work, and "disability" -- plus huge costs to "welfare", and to our health-care system. The use of alcohol, in the U. S., is associated with: 50% of homicides; 33% of suicides; 50% of all traffic accidents. 50% of felons in penitentiaries have alcohol-related problems. 25% of alcoholics are under age 30; and 80% are under age 50. 22,000 people died in alcohol-related auto accidents in 1990, and there were nearly 80,000 permanent disabilities in alcohol-related wrecks. Alcoholism is fourth among the U.S. health problems, behind heart disease, cancer, and mental illnesses. 100,000 people die each year from alcohol-related illnesses. There are 50 to 60 million "victims" of alcoholism, including crime victims -- and victims of domestic violence, divorces, bankruptcy, homelessness, etc. And on and on. There is much more. So, when you hear anyone touting the "beneficial" effects of alcohol, watch out. The black beast is prowling.... perhaps looking for you. |