Research Papers / Alcoholism - would it be a good topic for a research paper? [9]

Hello,
I have a started version of my paper and I am mainly just looking for some feedback and what you think of it so far and what I can do to improve it. Got an ideas for a creative title?

Thanks for all your help.
Jen

Alcoholism

When you hear the word "drug" what do think automatically comes to your mind? Well, most likely it will be an illegal drug that anyone can find on the streets. Like cocaine, heroin, marijuana. Very few people think of alcohol as a drug, but if alcohol is constantly abused it can even be more harmful then an illegal substance. I believe that alcohol and alcoholism has become a major issue in our society and needs to be handled differently. By this I think that we need to look in depth of what alcoholism really is, what causes it, who is effected and what are the treatments for alcoholism. For people to stop abusing alcohol or drugs they must have options that will help and assist them through the process of over coming their addiction. People do not realize irresponsible drinking of alcohol can destroy a person's life. When someone becomes psychologically and physical dependent on alcohol they become an alcoholic and suffer from a disease called alcoholism.

Alcohol is a very common substance in our society today. Studies have shown that "in a single year, between 7.4% and 9.7% of the population are dependent on alcohol." (Torr 21) But many issues can arise from drinking alcohol if you do not drink wisely. It is said that there is "approximately 14 million alcohol abusers in America, it is estimated that slightly less than 7 million are alcoholics." (Harvey 6) When someone becomes both physically and psychologically addicted to alcohol, they become an alcoholic and suffer from a disease called alcoholism. The Webster's Dictionary defines it as the "habitual excessive consumption of alcohol." So in other words alcoholism is an uncontrollable use of alcohol.

So now who really becomes an alcoholic? Many people who have experience long-term depression, anxiety, chronic pain and personal or work stress that results in them turning to alcohol for relief. When someone becomes an alcoholic they will not have any control over how many drinks or how often they drink. There life and time will become occupied with drinking and continuing to drink. Many people will deny that they are alcoholics or that they are addicted to alcohol. They will begin to develop and build up a tolerance to alcohol which will result in consuming more alcohol to become intoxicated.

But what really causes alcoholism? Well if anyone is drinking alcohol steadily and at a constant rate, you are most likely to develop a dependence on alcohol. Some people will also experience withdraw symptoms when they are not exposed to alcohol. But this let alone does not cause someone to be an alcoholic, genetics and culture can play a role in the development of alcoholism. Many people that have a family history of alcoholism are at a higher risk of being an alcoholic as well. Another key factor for someone more likely to become an alcoholic is if they start to drink at a young age. Anyone can become an alcoholic, but it is said that, "currently 1.9 million young people between the ages of 12 and 20 are considered heavy drinkers and 4.4 million are binge drinkers" (Torr 21) Sometimes it is even said that your gender will play a role in becoming an alcoholic. In general, it is said that most alcoholics are men, yet many studies have shown an increase of alcoholism in women. It is said that approximately about 9.3% of alcoholics are men and that 1.9% is women. Although it is less likely for a woman to be an alcoholic, many researchers have found that women become alcoholics later on in their life and are more likely to become addicted. Research has found that genetic factors can contribute to someone being an alcoholic. Research has proven that the genetic factor for women is a much weaker link then in men. Studies have also shown that people that are depressed and have anxiety play a role in the development of becoming an alcoholic.

So how serious is alcoholism in our society? Well it is said that "about 100,000 deaths a year" (Torr 23) are connected to alcohol. Alcoholism is also known to take off 10 to 12 years of your life expectancy. "Alcoholism can kill in many different ways," (Torr 22) when you drink regularly you have a much higher rate of dying from cancer, injuries and violence due to all the alcohol consumed. Researchers have found out that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol is known to lead to a wide range of health problems. They have found that the more alcohol someone drinks can lead to irregular heart beats and an increase in blood pressure. Alcohol is even known to increase your risk at getting cancer in your life. It has been proven that about 75% of esophagus cancers and that 50% of cancers in the mouth were a result in drinking alcohol heavily. But the organ that is the most vulnerable to alcohol is the liver, and brain "about 10% to 35% of heavy drinkers develop liver disorders." (Torr 25) The alcohol damages the liver because the alcohol converts the alcohol into a toxic substance referred as acetaldehyde, which is what causes the most damage to the liver. The alcohol, is also known to interfere with your absorption of proteins, vitamins and other nutrients. "Alcohol causes a deficiency with the vitamin-B, which can result in the disease called Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, the most common symptoms of the disease are loss of balance, confusion and memory loss; this can result in brain damage that can even lead to death" (Torr 26).

One major controversy about alcoholism is whether alcoholism is a disease or just a bad habit. Many people believe it to be weakness and that many people can drink responsibly if they wanted to. A recent survey found that people other than counselors and psychiatrists thought that "at least 25% of alcoholism is due to personal or moral weakness" (Harvey 10). Alcoholism was first recognized as a disease in the 1960 after a man named E.M. Jellinek's published his book The Disease Concept of Alcoholism. Jellinek's referred to alcoholism as "an involuntary disorder that is damaging to one's health, and thus a disease." (Harvey 10) Jellinek's wanted people to know that an unknown biological factor caused the disease. But many critics disagreed with Jellinek's and believed that alcoholism did not develop because a biological factor. Instead many people viewed the reason alcoholics drank as a way to relieve their personal problems and stress in life. But since then there has more research conducted, like in the 1990's there was a discovery that indeed there is a gene mutation associated with alcoholism. "We know from hundreds of studies conducted by thousands of researchers, that alcoholism is a progressive, physiological, genetically determined disease." (Harvey 11) But yet to this day many people still do not understand alcoholism and if it is truly in the genetic roots.

Getting treatment for alcoholism is essential for anyone to be able to survive this deadly disease. But often is the hardest step for many alcoholics, because many do not believe that they are addicted or have a problem with alcohol. The people and the loved ones around them are most often the ones that recognize the problem and take the first step to treatment. Many studies have shown that the main reason for people not seeking help is because of the lack of confidence in successful therapies and the denial of their own alcoholism. However the best form of treatment is through group meetings among other alcoholics and their family members. The key to making this work is that the alcoholic and family members are fully aware that alcoholism is a disease and that the response of the disease is the need or carving for alcohol and fear of withdraw are symptoms of the disease and the treatment for this disease is a long and painful process. Many studies have found that "the two basic goals of long-term treatment are total abstinence and replacement of the addictive patterns with satisfying, time filling behaviors." (Torr 27) Yet it is often found that many people will relapse, it is said that about 80 percent relapse because of many factors some being, frustration, anger and social pressure.

People do recover everyday from alcoholism but I believe that they very rarely do it on their own; many people will rely on outside help to fully recover. One of the very widely known form of treatment that everyone turns toward is known as Alcoholic's Anonymous or AA. AA was founded in 1935 and founded by Bill Wilson. AA is very well known for its twelve step program where the alcoholics have to admit that they are alcoholics and that alcohol is harming their life and family members around them. AA has stated that "our primary promise is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety." (Torr 90) Anyone can join AA because it is voluntary, has no requirements like dues or fees. AA's methods are spiritual, AA does this by putting an emphasis on a "higher power" or God can help and restore them. But some people don't think that AA is that effective, it is said that they work but only to a tiny percent of the addicted people.

Many of the treatments for alcoholism require ongoing treatment and monitoring constantly and many of the types of treatments include some form of therapy. But, currently the FDA has approved three medications for the treatment of alcohol dependence. The first approved drug is known as Disulfram which is a "aversion-based therapy for alcohol dependence that produces sensitivity to alcohol, resulting in a highly unpleasant reaction when the patient under treatment ingests even small amounts of alcohol." (Swift 16) Studies have found that this oral drug that is taking daily has a positive effect of reducing the number of days of drinking. The second drug, Naltrexone and was approved in 1994, by the FDA. Naltrexone is also known to treat alcohol dependence. The results of this treatment reported that the patients had lower levels of alcohol cravings and that it was a very effective treatment. The last drug approved by the FDA, is acamprostate which is used for maintaining abstinence. But was found not to be very effective, the drug is poorly absorbed by the body and does not show a decrease in days of heavy drinking or an increase in days for abstinence.

Writing Feedback / Gas is on the Rise - opinion essay [2]

Hello,
We were required to create an opinion essay, on any topic of our choice of something that matters to us. Below is my eassy and I could use some advice. I have it at three pages now and need it to be four pages and I am now stuck. Any advice would be greatful. Also I was wondering if I have any real thesis I believe I do but it doesn't come until the end of the paper, is that okay?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give me.

Gas Is On The Rise...

I woke up to the sound of music on my phone at 6 a.m. and started my daily routine. As I inhaled my breakfast and glanced at the time I realized I was going to being late for school, again. I rushed to grab my backpack, coat and dashed out the door. As I started up the car I realized I forgot to get gas last night, I knew now at this point I was going to be late no matter what.

As I pulled into the gas station my face light up with the utter most joy, the price of gas had gone up again. At this point I was not truly happy about this because I am like any student on a strict budget. As I started the pump, I glazed at the machine as the numbers kept rolling up, as I closed my eyes trying to remember those good old days when it only took twenty dollars to fill up my tank. As I heard the quiet click and glanced at the total my mouth dropped, as I read the numbers, I soon realized there was nothing like the good olds days. My day-dreaming was over for me as I was sucked back into reality. What once was twenty dollars was now forty, as my stomach turned I reached into my purse to pay the cashier, thinking this better last until my next paycheck. I felt like the high gases prices were only burning a hole in my paycheck. Each time the prices began to climb, I would get more and more frustrated.

While driving to school, my favorite music started playing and I began to jam out, until I realized that I was not going to be able to make it on one tank of gas. I soon came to the conclusion I was going to be short and had to find out how to make ends meet. Should I ask my parents for a loan and get the talk, you need to learn how to manage your money better. Or ask a friend to borrow some money and never here the end of that. Or even better there is always the school bus that manages to always be late, stinky and crowded. Alright now you are all probably thinking those all sound so great. Gee, now I wonder which one I will ever choose.

I come from a generation where teenagers basically assume that when you're 16 you'll have a car and you'll drive to school. Just take my school for instances we probably had 300 or more students that drove to school everyday. But, in many cases both parents work, and the student also has a part-time job. So in that situation, having a car is sometimes a necessity. I just happened to be in that boat, my parents would say having a part-time job would bring me responsibility and respect for people. But yet with that part-time job more and more of that paycheck was going to gas and less to fun and a social life. When I would complain many of my friends did not feel my pain because there parents would foot the bill. What disgusted me the most was when they would take this for grant, they weren't appreciating what their parents were doing for them. I now find myself focusing on the gas prices more then the prices at the mall. I find all my spending money being funneled into my gas tank. Since the gas prices have reach for the sky, I find myself thinking about other means of transportation where that means pedaling my way around or walking whenever possible. But when you live 25 miles from school or town the only way to get around is by driving. I find myself planning my trips more and trying to do all my stops at once and not making those random trips to the mall anymore.

Now, we all are probably tired of hearing about the certain ways that you can save and stretch one tank of gas. Like getting gas in the morning or late afternoon, filling up as much as possible and making sure your car meets all the standards, like the tire pressures right and keeping the air filter up to date. Although they can help and do make a difference, you still find yourself pulling into that local gas station way too soon and seeing the mall in your rearview mirror.

Now if you're like most of us you are probably complaining to, and know exactly what I am talking about and feel my pain. Now days it always seems like the gas prices keep soaring up little by little. Between the wars overseas and the recent hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast the price of gas has reached a record high. But with the way the price of gas is steadily climbing, we soon will be reminiscing about the time before hurricane Katrina and Rita when the price of gas was in the two dollar range. These two hurricanes had a big impact on our entire country, which has made our supply go down but the demand goes up. So when demand goes up, the price goes up, resulting in higher gas prices. So in result we find ourselves pumping more gasoline, despite those higher prices.

Like many people, students just want to be heard and make a statement that the high gas prices even affect young people not just adults. With a part-time job you make minimum wage and about half of that goes to gas and we miss out on everyday things like going to the movies because we can't afford it. But, as we all know gas prices will always continue to fluctuate, but over time they will always be on the rise and become a problem for everyone. Since there is not much we can do now we have to be smart and learn to budget in the high prices.