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Alcohol use involves drinking beer, wine or hard liquor.

People have various misconceptions of what of alcohol and what Alcoholism is about. Where some believe anything that is extracted from fruits is wine and therefore anything wine is alcohol. There are 2 types of production of alcohol. One is the commercial production of Alcoholic beverages, this is Ethyl alcohol and is used in the production of alcoholic beverages, consists of C2H5OH; a clear liquid with a burning taste and a pleasant smell. Anonther is the Non commercial alcohol which is also defined as traditional beverages and this is produced for home consumption or limited local trade and counterfeit or unregistered products in Ghana. The legal age a person can consume alcohol is age eighteen and above. In addition some believe that when we drink and fall in the gutter is when we can be refered to as an alcoholic but to the contrary according to http://www.medicinenet.com, alcoholism also known as "alcohol dependence," is a disease that includes four symptoms which are Craving: A strong need or compulsion to drink. Loss of control: The inability to limit one's drinking on any given occasion. Physical dependence: Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety, occur when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking. Tolerance: The need to drink greater amounts of alcohol in order to "get high." We see that all the symptoms highlight someone that take the small amount of alcohol and not neccessarily a person that drinks to stupor.

The common traditional alcohol beverage in Ghana is called Akpeteshie and she has been listed among countries where alcohol consumption is high. The alcohol consumed is mostly illicit, this is according to reports that was released by the International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP) 2008. Furthermore, existing literature on alcohol consumption among adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa suggests that a greater proportion of adolescents have consumed or currently consume alcohol. Two Ghanaian studies conducted among secondary school students and among nationally representative samples of in and out-of-school youth found that the prevalence of lifetime alcohol use was approximately 25%. According to the 2003 World Health Survey, the proportion of 18-24 year old males reporting heavy drinking (defined as consuming five or more standard drinks in one sitting at least once a week) was estimated at 1% in Ghana. The alcohol beverages sector in Ghana is booming as 30 million litres of alcohol are consumed yearly and more and more youths are getting involved in th use of this drug. A survey conducted by Ghana Organization on Foetal Alcohol Syndrome estimated that the per capita consumption of alcohol is 1.5 litres - about 7 million gallons of alcohol consumed annually. Doubtlessly, this amount translates to serious economic losses to the individual as well as the nation at large.

The exposure of Alcohol to the youths by parental relationships and family life strongly impact whether or not a youth will be involved in alcohol use. Children whose parents tell them to avoid alcohol are less likely to drink alcohol. For instance, in a poll of high-achieving high school students, of those students who reported their parents forbid them to drink (88 percent), 69 percent had never tried alcoholic beverages (Krouse 1997). In contrast, children of parents who have favorable attitudes about drinking are more likely to initiate and continue to drink. The Add Health study also found parents play a significant role in protecting children from alcohol use. Students were protected against alcohol use if they felt parental connectedness, which was defined by researchers as a sense of closeness to parents and feeling loved and cared for by parents. Parental presence was found to be another protective factor against alcohol use, although to a lesser degree. However, students who reported easy access to alcohol in the home were more likely to drink alcohol.

A growing body of research indicates a positive association between alcohol advertising and alcohol use among young people. For example, Grube and Wallack (1994) showed that greater recall of alcohol advertising is significantly related to more positive beliefs about alcohol use, which in turn are associated with greater future intentions to drink alcohol among children and adolescents. In addition, affective responses toward beer advertising are positively related to current and later alcohol use among children and adolescents. The relationships between responses toward alcohol advertising

and The relationships between responses toward alcohol advertising and drinking behaviors, however, are complex. It is probable that alcohol advertising may predispose young people to drinking. Conversely, being predisposed to drinking may make young people respond more favorably toward alcohol advertisements. Children are aware of alcohol advertisements and this awareness increases with age (Aitken, 1989; Aitken, Leathar, & Scott, 1988). Understanding of the complexity of alcohol advertisements also increases with age. Specifically, Aitken and his colleagues found that descriptions of advertisements and the imagery portrayed in advertisements become more differentiated for youth of 10 to 14. In addition, young children tend to respond morally and literally to alcohol advertisements because of the products promoted, whereas older youth are able to comprehend the more subtle implications suggested by the images shown as most adults do. Austin and Knaus (2000) further demonstrated that youths appreciation of portrayals in alcohol advertising is positively related to their desire to emulate the people and lifestyle featured in the advertisements. Alcohol can have major effects on major organ systems. For example, it can cause ulcers, inflammation or the pancreas, and cirrhosis of the liver. It can permanently damage the central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system. Withdrawal from alcohol, in severe cases, can cause shaking limbs, hallucinations, and blackouts: which can be fatal if not properly treated. The liver is the largest internal organ in the body. In a healthy adult, it weighs about 3 pounds and holds about thirteen percent of the body's blood supply. Blood flowing from the stomach and intestines goes into the liver where it extracts nutrients and toxins. The blood is then pumped back to the heart. The liver performs over 500 vital functions. It processes all of the nutrients that the body requires, including proteins, glucose, vitamins, cholesterol, and fats. It also makes potentially toxic substances, including alcohol, ammonia, nicotine, drugs, and harmful by-products of digestion nontoxic.

The liver is particularly harmed by alcohol. In the body, alcohol breaks down into various chemicals which are very toxic in the liver. According to a statistic by the rightdiagnosis.com, the occurrence of Liver cirrhosis in countries such as Ghana has reported cases of 30,525 with a population of 24 million compared to Nigeria with a case of 26,103 and a population is 170 million. About 10% to 35% of heavy drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis. After years of drinking, liver damage can be very severe, leading to cirrhosis in about 10% to 20% of cases. Not eating when drinking and consuming a variety of alcoholic beverages are also factors that increase the risk for liver damage. People with alcoholism are also at higher risk for hepatitis B and C. People with alcoholism should be immunized against hepatitis Band they may need a larger

dose of the vaccine for it to be effective. Recent evidence shows that even moderate drinking in young girls(due to premarital sex) during pregnancy can result in serious damage to the child. For example, it may cause physical or mental retardation, and in some cases, fetal alcohol syndrome. Fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by alcohol consumption of pregnant women. The consumption of alcohol greatly increases the risk of abnormalities for the unborn child. Some of these abnormalities include: growth deficiencies (head, weight, length etc.), facial abnormalities (small head, small jaw, small, narrow unusual-looking eyes), heart disease, and limb abnormalities.

The solutions to prevent youth alcoholism should be multifaceted. Several studies have found that young adolescents who are more likely to be without adult supervision after school have significantly higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use than do adolescents receiving more adult supervision (Mulhall et al. 1996; Richardson et al. 1993). Several sources have recommended family involvement as important for the success of alcohol prevention strategies. Family factors, such as parent-child relationships, discipline methods, communication, monitoring and supervision, and parental involvement, can significantly influence alcohol use or non use among youths. Because of increasing demands on their time and attention, however, parents are spending less time with their children and therefore need strategies and ideas to help them effectively parent their children (Kumpfer 2000).

Even though the rate of Alcohol use in Ghana is high amongst youths all is not lost, we should do all in our power to regulate the time the youths in our care spend outside school and be reminded that every action of alcohol use by us as parents in the presence of the youths will result in them copying these behaviours. The Youths are the future of tomorrow the cost of medicare is increasing and the limited resources the nation would have used in building schools and roads would be spent on psychological and other health related issues as a result of alcohol drinking.

Krouse, P. Twenty-eighth annual survey of high achievers views on education, drugs, social and sexual issues. Lake Forest (IL): Whos who among American high school students; 1997. Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse, "The Prevalence of Alcohol, Cigarette, and Marijuana Use Among Ghanaian Senior Secondary Students in an Urban Setting" Vol 2 No1, pg 53-65, 2003

Aitken, P. P., Leathar, D. S., & Scott, A. C. (1988). Ten- to sixteen-year-olds perceptions of advertisements for alcoholic drinks. Alcohol and Alcoholism, 23, 491500. Journal of Drug Education, "Home alone: Is it a risk factor for middle school youth and drug use?" MULHALL, P.F.; STONE, D.; and STONE, B. Vol 26 No1 pg3948, 1996. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, "Preventing adolescent drug abuse through a multimodal cognitive-behavioral approach: Results of a 3-year study" BOTVIN, G.J.; BAKER, E.; DUSENBURY, L. et al, Vol 58 No4, pg 437466, 1990

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