This is the second and third assignment of the Critical Thinking course. I combined them because the second assignment talks about bringing 2 separate essays contradicting each other. The third assignment is basically just comparing them and bringing out the opposites of each other. It is also about the negative and positive effects of alcohol. Enjoy! :D:

The Negative Effects of Alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body’s reactions. It also affects the working of the brain and the nervous system. The more a person drinks, the more their ability to make important decisions become impaired. After just one drink a person can lose their ability to perform everyday tasks.

There are many causes of people drinking, but the major two are causal drinking and peer pressure. Causal drinking occurs when a person goes to a party or bar and he or she does not intend on drinking, but they do anyway. The next cause is peer pressure. Why does peer pressure cause drinking? The first reason is when someone’s friends keep going on at them until they drink. The second reason is when someone’s friends’ drink, they think it is cool and they don’t want to be left out, so they drink too.

The effects alcohol can have on a body are numerous. It increases the workload of the heart, causing irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. It poisons the liver, causing extensive damage and failure. It can stop the kidneys from maintaining a proper balance of body fluids and minerals; it can also affect the brain, causing unclear thinking. Large amounts of it can cause unconsciousness or death. Even knowing this some people will still make bad and dangerous choices when it comes to alcohol.

One of the most dangerous things you can do is, driving under the influence (D.U.I). Not only are you endangering yourself, you are endangering your passenger, other road users, and pedestrians. Every year more than 7,000 people are injured from alcohol related crashes, and more than 16,000 die. That means every 30 minutes someone is involved in an accident that involves alcohol. Within those crashes innocent people are killed.

Excessive alcohol use increases the risk of a number of diseases: fatty degeneration of the liver, infection of the liver, liver cirrhosis  (  More  )  , sleeping disorders, sexual problems, infection of the esophagus, infection of the stomach, infection of the pancreas, premature dementia, varying from a reduction of memory to the serious syndrome of Korsakoff; cancer of the mouth, throat, larynx, intestines and breasts; hypertension and heart problems. Alcohol is also damaging during pregnancy. Also alcohol takes its toll in traffic.

Alcohol plays an important role in aggression. 40% of all incidents involving aggression occur while under the influence of alcohol. The police spend 22% of their time on cases involving alcohol. Violence on the streets and domestic violence while under the influence of alcohol happen often.

Also at work, alcohol has big consequences. 13% of all employees on sick leave have alcohol problems. Employees with alcohol problems produce at least 10% less work than their colleagues.

Alcohol can make people irresponsible; for example, getting pregnant in circumstances where they are not able to care for a child.

Alcohol can change a person’s life in an instant. One bad decision caused by drinking could lead up to someone losing their life. Even people know that it is wrong they say to their selves, “this could never happen to me,” so they do it. Today we need to stop and think, is a drink worth killing someone over.






The Positive Effects of Alcohol

A small dose of alcohol consumption is associated with a reduced risk of developing particular conditions, such as heart-disease, vascular dementia, gallstones and diabetes. The health benefits associated with alcohol consumption are summarised on the right (Anderson & Baumberg, 2006).


Positive outcomes of alcohol consumption outweigh the negative outcomes when the volume of consumed alcohol is associated with a lower risk of death. A UK study showed that consuming no or nearly no alcohol provides the lowest mortality risk for women under 65 and men under 35. The level of alcohol consumption with the lowest risk of death increases to less than 5g of alcohol a day (less than a half drink) for women aged 65 or over, and to less than 10g a day (less than one drink) for men aged 65 or over (White et al., 2002). A meta-analysis of prospective studies confirmed an inverse association of low alcohol consumption and mortality for woman and men. It showed an inverse association with total mortality for woman at a consumption level of 1-2 drinks per day, for men at 2-4 drinks a day. Lowest mortality risk was seen at about half a drink daily. Different associations for different ages were not determined in this study (Di Castelnuovo et al., 2006). While adult men and middle-aged women seem to have most benefit of consuming about half a glass a day, the lowest risk drinking-level probably returns to zero at a very old age (Anderson & Baumberg, 2006).

In the case of moderate use, alcohol has positive effects. You can get livelier, easier and relaxed. You can talk more easily and feel less tired.

According to some researchers, moderate alcohol use protects against cardiovascular diseases. This means a maximum of 2-3 glasses of wine or beer a day for men, and 1 to 2 glasses a day for women.

Socially, some people claim that it also has positive effects. It provides a lot of employment in the production, catering and retail of products and services in which alcohol plays a part. Also, people claim that alcoholic beverages helps people socialize.

Research has shown that moderate consumption of alcohol may have several positive effects on your health. The Mayo Clinic defines moderate consumption as less than two alcoholic drinks a day for men and one drink for women. Exceeding these amounts may negate the positive effects and may even damage your health.

According to the Mayo Clinic, moderate alcohol intake may reduce your overall risk of heart disease and decrease your chances of dying from a heart attack. It is believed that alcohol may prevent heart disease by reducing calcification of the arteries.

Alcohol may also lower your risk for stroke when consumed in moderate amounts. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has found that alcohol has anti-clotting properties that may prevent clots in the blood vessels.

Alcohol, and particularly red wine, has been linked to an increase in HDL cholesterol and a reduction in LDL cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic. Some researchers believe that the resveratrol in red wine causes a reduction in LDL cholesterol.

Moderate alcohol consumption may also prevent gallstones from forming, according to the results of the 2003 Nurse’s Health Study. However, excessive alcohol intake may contribute to gallstones, so researchers still need to determine the precise relationship.

A study conducted at Harvard Medical School found that moderate alcohol intake–regardless of the type of alcohol–was associated with a reduced risk of type 2 diabetes. More research is needed, however, to draw firm conclusions.

In conclusion, if alcohol was consumed in low quantities than usual, there would positively be effects to the human body like reducing the risk of having a heart disease, heart attacks, reduced the chance

of having a brain stroke, increasing in HDL cholesterol, reducing LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol), preventing gallstones from forming and reducing the risk of getting type 2 diabetes. Alcohol is a cure for many diseases but must be consumed in a reasonable amound.






Negative Effects of Alcohol:

Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol.

Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol.

Alcoholic polyneuropathy.

Alcoholic cardiomyopathy.

Alcoholic gastritis.

Alcoholic liver disease.

Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified.

Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver.

Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis.

Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.

Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol.

Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent.

Work Disorders.

Legal Problems.


Positive Effects of Alcohol (If alcohol consumption was little):

Social well being (pleasure; work);

Being productive.

Seeing life liter.

Being in a good mood.

Solving problems (on rare cases).

Better health.

Cleaner liver.

Cleansed kidneys.

Blood filtering.

Abdominal support (cleaning the abdomen).

Less risk of heart attacks.

Reduced risk of type 2 of diabetes.

Prevents Gallstones from forming.

Increase in HDL cholesterol and a reduction in LDL cholesterol.


Less heart diseases.

Decrease your chances of dying from a heart attack.



Although the consumption of alcohol in moderate or liter amounts which brings us very positive effects that can actually make our lives healthier, brighter, productive, beautiful and more delightful, the negative effects are very lethal to the human body and the people around him/her no matter who he/she is. Alcohol consumption in vast amounts will be concluded with irrational actions and have more health problems, mental problems, economic problems, family problems, physical problems and psychological problems. I would never recommend drinking alcohol no matter the amount is going to be used, little or big, alcohol is a destroyer.