Drink Alcohol Responsibly
A good mood and a pleasant feeling of loosening up traditionally go together with wine, but even in the consumtion of this noble beverage we run up against the fact there are certain limits. With moderate consumption alcohol has favourable effects on the health and is not in any way incompatible with a healthy lifestyle, but irresponsible or reckless consumption brings with it a range of serious problems, which doctors regularly point out and warn us against.
Excessive drinking of alcohol can lead to diseases of the liver, to diabetes, cancerous tumours, high blood pressure or cardiovascular diseases. Set against this, alcohol can, especially through a regular intake of small quantities, act as a medicine for lowering the incidence of heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure or diabetes.
A fundamental problem is also that of consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Doctors here warn of the risk of affecting the foetus inside the mother's womb through the so-called foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). This is an aggregate of divergences that may occur should the mother over-indulge in alcohol during pregnancy. Namely, alcohol gets to the unborn child, whose liver is not yet capable of eliminating it effectively. Among the principal signs of FAS are birth defects such as a short, flat and broad nose, a small head and a flattened philtrum (the groove in the middle of the upper lip). Among other frequent symptoms can be counted a lower birth weight and smaller growth rate, although this particular syndrome is also capable of damaging the central nervous system of the child far more seriously.
Highly risky to the health, both physical and mental, as well as in the social context, is the consumption of alcohol by under-age children. According to the recent study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the number of fifteen year-olds who already had experience with alcohol has increased from 70% to 94% since 2002. This change relates primarily to inadequate prevention among our youth and the universal tolerance to alcohol of Czech society in general, which often tends to underestimate the risks of alcohol on children and minors.
The immediate impact from the irresponsible drinking of alcohol on car drivers is not perhaps at first sight apparent, but parties to traffic accidents that had serious consequences to health or loss of lives would most probably have a different opinion on that. Alcohol is in fact one of the most frequent causes of traffic accidents. The real risk that a driver under the influence of alcohol can cause an accident with between with 0.03 to 0.09% in the blood is five times greater than for a sober driver. In the range of 0.1 to 0.14% this probability of causing an accident increases more than thirtyfold, whereas over 0.15% of alcohol in the blood means the risk for a driver is more than 128 times greater than for one who is sober.
Let us enjoy our favourite tipple, but responsibly please!
