Chapter 7 Blog

10/24/18
Chapter 7 is all about alcohol and tobacco use in general, but also specifically in college students. We know from this chapter that around 40% of people in college report binge drinking. This is the norm for many college students and can have a ton of negative side effects including death for short term side effects as well as long term. The book talks about how many drinks on average is a good amount and it states no more than 2 a day on average and no more than 4 at a single event. When you drink more than this at an event it can be considered binge drinking. Some short term side effects are slowed reaction time, impaired judgement, nausea, and increased urination. Some of the long term effects are memory impairment, weakened heart muscle, increased risk of liver cancer, higher risk of osteoporosis, and fatty liver. Chapter 7 also mentions the dangers of drunk driving and how approximately 30% of Americans are statistically due to be in an alcohol related accident. It also talks about how to identify and help an alcoholic. Alcoholism can be due to many factors, but one that stuck out to me was being at increased risk for alcoholism if other members of your family are also alcoholics. In order to keep track of our drinking and possibly reduce it, the book suggests keeping a journal of how much we drink, as well as setting a personal drinking goal. We know the healthy amounts we need to drink it’s just a matter of sticking to our plans. Staying active and keeping set days of the week to abstain from drinking is another way to reduce our intake.

This chapter also talks a lot about tobacco, one of the other 3 most popular drugs for college students. People can rely on tobacco and nicotine for a number of reasons, such as addiction or behavioral dependence. Nicotine can also reduce appetite and increase metabolism. Nicotine is the truly addictive component of most tobacco products and can cause dependencies so strong that it can cause withdrawal symptoms. One of the more popular uses of tobacco is in cigarettes which also put tar and other harmful chemicals in your lungs. Some of the short term effects of tobacco products are lightheadedness, irritated throat, increased respiratory rate, and increased blood sugar. Some of the long term effects are addiction, excess and early skin wrinkling, increased risk in cancers, and increased risk of infertility and impotence. The chapter ends on the note of environmental tobacco smoke, more commonly referred to as second hand smoke. This can be a problem even for non-smokers, as other people’s bad habits can cause them respiratory and long term issues. This can be specifically bad for children whose parents smoke around them. Most public buildings now are smoke free as far as I know, smoking indoors is against the law. Even outside, there are usually designated smoking areas so as to keep the smoke and chemicals in a smaller area. Even the growingly popular e-cigarettes are against policies and limited in use. It has not been tested to be any less harmful than cigarette smoke and is treated as much of the same.

As for my health journey goals, I only made it to the gym two or three days last week but I managed to run every other day. I think 3 days last week I went behind the town library and jogged the nature trails we have back there. I still feel great about my journey and where it is headed, as I still think I made positive progress. Even though the week was hectic, I was not being lazy as I have been guilty of in the past. I didn’t skip the gym and stay home I skipped the gym and took my dog out for some exercise or skipped for work. In past weeks, I have walked my dog in the morning and woke up early just to feel tired after work and not feel like going to the gym or running. I wanted to take some time this week to reduce my stress and found some time to play my guitar which has rarely been picked up this semester. It was great to sit down and challenge myself a little differently than usual. As for this chapter and how it relates, I can say that I have binge drank by definition in the past, but I would not consider it to have ever been a problem. I feel like I was always responsible and didn’t ever try to drive myself or with another individual who was drinking. I would say that I am pretty consistent now with not drinking more than what I am comfortable with and staying around 1-2 drinks an hour. I have also used tobacco products in the past and sometimes on rare occasion will use some form of dip when fishing but it is not out of necessity and more out of enjoyment. Knowing the health risks involved is what led me to decrease usage in the past and may lead me to decrease usage altogether.