Question

How does excess alcohol and drug consumption affect human beings?

Answer 1

Addictive substances:

1. Those substances which tend to make a person increasingly dependent on them are called addictive substances.
2. The three important types of addictive substances which cause diseases are:

(i) tobacco, (ii) alcohol, and (iii) narcotic drugs.

Alcohol:

1. Alcohol is used in the form of wine, whisky, beer, gin, brandy, etc.
2. When a person takes a drink containing alcohol, it is quickly absorbed by the bloodstream in the small intestine and reaches the brain.

The various harmful effects caused by consuming alcohol are:

1. It affects the control and coordination mechanism of the body.
2. It reduces the alertness of the mind.
3. Alcohol may cause serious damage to the nervous system.
4. Excessive alcohol taken for a long time causes damage to the liver (liver cirrhosis).
5. Alcohol lowers the resistance of the body to diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis.

Drugs:

1. The harmful drugs which induce numbness, sleep, hallucinations, and cause feelings of excitement in humans are called narcotic drugs.
2. The most frequently used narcotic drugs are opium, morphine, heroin, ganja, cocaine, marijuana, etc.

The harmful effects of taking narcotic drugs are :

1. It causes serious damage to the nervous system and other organs of the body.

2. It has a bad effect on vision (eye-sight) hearing capacity, and respiratory and cardiovascular (heart-related) systems.

3. The use of narcotic drugs through injections (sharing the same needle) leads to a rapid spread of AIDS diseases.