These were teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 who were hospitalized for heavy drunkenness, including a 13-year-old girl with 2.2 per mille of alcohol in her blood, and doctors at the Children's Hospital in Split say they do not remember such a case.
Teenagers and alcohol are nothing new, and it seems that the age limit of consumers in our country, unfortunately, is lowering more and more. Thus, in December 2012, the results of the Healthy for 5 project were presented, showing that as many as 87.9 percent of high school students drink, and that number is constantly growing. "It is somewhat good that these are not everyday consumers, but those who drink mostly on weekends," said Nadica Puškaš, a social worker at the Koprivnica-Križevci County Public Health Institute, at the presentation of the Healthy for 5 project.
Not to be too clever, here are a few facts about alcohol to consider:
Many people mistakenly believe that alcohol, like coffee, is a stimulant, but it actually causes depression! If you are in a bad mood and drink alcohol, you can fall into an even bigger depression. Without alcohol you will have much more energy to dance well and have fun and you will sleep less! Also, alcohol will not quench your thirst, but will only increase it. It leads to dehydration and has a high proportion of empty calories.
Alcohol affects self-control! Just when it seems to you that a little 'booze' improves your mood, you realize that that booze is actually spinning you around your little finger and controlling you. Namely, alcohol affects the central nervous system, your ability to reason and self-control because 20 percent of alcohol immediately enters the bloodstream through the walls of the stomach. The impact is therefore stronger the hungrier you are, and can lead to embarrassment in front of others and becoming an ‘internet star’ or to risky behaviors, such as drunk driving or unprotected sex. So be careful with drinks!
Large amounts of alcohol at once can quickly cause poisoning that can lead to coma or even death. If someone gets very drunk and then looks like they’re in a coma, it’s not fun at all because maybe they’re just dying!
Alcohol is especially harmful for young people! Teenagers ’bodies and brains are still evolving - teens who like to drink will therefore generally find it harder to learn and have poorer grades in school, and will also increase their risk of becoming alcoholics when they grow up. People who start drinking by the age of fifteen are five times more likely to become alcoholics than those who start drinking only after the age of twenty.
The researchers found that the effects of alcoholism, such as cardiomyopathy, skeletal muscle myopathy and liver damage, occur earlier in women than in men, despite shorter exposure to alcohol.
Ugh, hangover! The ‘gift’ after a stormy night of socializing with alcohol is a hangover. It occurs when alcohol begins to withdraw from the body, and the headache is caused by extreme dehydration of the brain, which is literally displaced from the skull, resulting in sharp pain at touch points such as the temples and the base of the neck.
Consequences of alcohol include: numbness of the senses, impaired sensory-motor abilities, impaired reflexive motor reactions, decreased concentration, impaired memory, decreased judgment, drowsiness or fatigue, and, in extreme cases, coma or death. Alcohol should never be mixed with illegal drugs or drugs, e.g. painkillers or antibiotics, as it can permanently damage the liver and lead to complications such as vomiting, heart problems and difficulty breathing. In the worst case, the thing can end in coma or death.
Some research has shown that excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of the development of many cancers such as cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, liver, intestines and breast. It can also play a role in the development of pancreatic and lung cancer. The bottom line is: the more you drink, the better your chances of getting cancer.
When is alcohol a problem? How will you know if any of your friends or you have a problem with alcohol? Sometimes it’s hard to say, but there are signs that betray it. There is a problem with alcohol if you have any of the following symptoms: drinking regularly, lying about the amount of alcohol you drink, believing you can't have a good time without alcohol, suffering from hangovers (headaches), feeling exhausted, depressed or even thinking about suicide darkening in your head, you don’t remember what you did under the influence of alcohol.
Check out this video for an explanation why you shouldnt drink https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/alcohol-good-or-bad