Risk behaviours

Alcohol and driving

Alcohol is well known to reduce the judgment and performance of drivers and others engaging in activities that require concentration, quick reaction, and precise movement.

A driver with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.10 or greater is 7 times more likely to be involved in a fatal motor vehicle accident than is a driver who has not consumed any alcohol, and a driver with an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or greater is about 25 times more likely.

Vehicle crash victims who are drunk on alcohol at the time of the crash suffer worse injuries, and are more likely to sustain a severe injury, than those who haven’t been drinking. This includes victims inside the accident vehicle and pedestrians outside the accident vehicle.

Inexperienced drinkers become intoxicated with much less alcohol than experienced ones, and are much more likely to have traffic accidents after consuming small amounts of alcohol. Even a single drink dramatically increases of being involved in an accident.

Never condone or approve of intoxication since intoxicated behaviour is dangerous, reckless, fatal and never amusing.Don’t let your friends drive after drinking. If you plan to party away from home, be sure to appoint a designated non-drinking driver for the car, take a matatu or use a taxi. Alternatively, volunteer to be the designated drive. It could save your life and the lives of your friends, family and community.

Alcohol and health

Alcohol Dementia

Excessive drinking of alcohol leads to a condition known as Alcohol Dementia, that is, loss of memory and ability to learn. Alcohol has a direct affect on brain cells, resulting in poor judgment, difficulty making decisions and lack of insight.
Nutrition problems resulting from poor appetite due to alcohol abuse further complicates the condition since parts of the brain are damaged by vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin B-1 (thiamine).
Those suffering from Alcohol Dementia may have very little ability to learn new things though their other mental abilities may still be functioning.
Along with the decline in cognitive skills noticeable personality changes take place.

Symptoms of Alcohol Dementia

Personality changes

  • Neglect of self and property
  • Frustration
  • Anger and Irritability
  • Emotional instability
  • Unstable moods and confusion
  • Paranoia,
  • Suspicion and jealousy
  • Insensitivity to others
  • Loss of inhibitions and incontinence
  • Fear of being alone

Loss of problem-solving skills

Inability to do familiar tasks

Inability to make connections between different tasks

Inability to make decisions

Inability to initiate or complete projects.

Communication problems

  • Problems finding words and expressions
  • Inability to follow conversations
  • Repeating same pieces of information and questions
  • Fabricating detailed, believable stories about experiences or situations to cover the gaps in memory (also known as confabulation).

Disorientation

  • Loss of a sense of time
  • Getting lost in familiar areas
  • Not recognizing otherwise familiar people.

Alcohol abuse and HIV/AIDS

Research shows that alcohol and other substances of abuse are factors in the spread of HIV.Alcohol abuse also causes long-term health complications for HIV-positive individuals. People who abuse alcohol are more likely than the general population to contract HIV/AIDS.

Heavy alcohol use is associated with high-risk sexual behaviour including multiple sex partners, unprotected sexual intercourse, sex with high-risk partners such as prostitutes, and the exchange of sex for money or drugs. Further, alcohol abuse is also associated with injection drug use, which is a known major mode of HIV transmission. In addition alcohol can act directly on the brain to reduce inhibitions and diminish risk perception.

Further, expectations about the effect of alcohol may exert a more powerful influence on alcohol-involved sexual behavior. Studies consistently demonstrate that people who strongly believe that alcohol enhances sexual arousal and performance are more likely to practice risky sex after indulging in alcohol drinking.

The combination of heavy drinking and HIV/AIDS has been associated with increased medical and psychiatric complications, delays in seeking treatment, difficulties with HIV medication compliance, and poorer HIV treatment outcomes.

Alcohol increases susceptibility to some infections that can occur as complications of AIDS. Infections associated with both alcohol and AIDS include tuberculosis, streptococcal pneumonia, and hepatitis C, all of which may eventually lead to death. Alcohol also increase the severity of AIDS-related brain damage.

Studies show that decreasing alcohol use among HIV patients not only reduces the medical and psychiatric consequences associated with alcohol consumption but also decreases other drug use and HIV transmission. Prevention of alcohol abuse among the youth is of particular importance since HIV/AIDS is a leading cause of death among people aged between 15 to 24 years in Kenya.

Healthcare providers are encouraged to constantly screen their HIV/AIDS patients for alcohol use/abuse and that patients being treated for alcohol and substance abuse be screened for HIV infection.

People, especially youths, do not know whether it is 2 drinks or 10 drinks that make alcohol abuse a reality. The truth is that drinking any amount of alcohol that alters thinking and causes one to act out of the natural is alcohol abuse, and that there is always treatment available to remedy the problem.

Alcohol abuse and pregnancy

People say that moderate drinking during pregnancy is okay however Babies born to mothers who drink during pregnancy do develop serious mental and physical defects known as Foetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). The probability of giving birth to a child with FAS increases with the amount and frequency of alcohol consumed.

For the unborn child, the alcohol interferes with his ability to get enough oxygen and nourishment for normal cell development in the brain and other body organs. Research has shown that a developing foetus has very little tolerance for alcohol and it ends up killing cells in the developing brain.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and other birth defects caused by maternal alcohol abuse are permanent and cannot be cured. Therefore, a baby born with FAS has serious handicaps that may require a lifetime of special care.

Consider your child having the following defects:

  • Small head, small brain and small body size
  • Severe mental retardation
  • Slower than normal development and learning disabilities
  • Bent, fused, webbed, or missing fingers or toes
  • Small eye openings and nearsightedness
  • Drooping eyelids and failure to coordinate eyes
  • Short up-turned nose
  • Low-set or poorly formed ears
  • Deformed ribs, curved spine and dislocated hips
  • Heart defects or heart murmurs
  • Genital malformations
  • Opening in roof of mouth and cleft palate
  • Poor body, hand, and finger coordination.

Alcohol-related birth defects are 100% preventable if a pregnant woman does not drink alcohol. If you are pregnant, don’t take a chance with your baby’s future - stop drinking immediately. If you have tried to stop and find it difficult to, help and support are available.

Alcohol and work

Alcohol abusers do not necessarily have to drink while on duty to have a negative impact at their respective work stations. Compared to non-alcohol abusing co-workers, alcohol abusers are 10 times more likely to miss work; are 33% less productive; 3.6 times more likely to be involved in on-the-job accidents; 5 times more likely to injure someone at the work place; and are responsible for 40% of industrial accidents.

Alcohol abusers often experience morning-after hangovers, which make their productivity at the work place to decline, and they may show signs of physical deterioration. A 1992 study by Ames G. and Janes C in the United States found a positive relationship between the frequency of being “hung-over” at work and the frequency of feeling sick at work, sleeping on the job, and having problems with job tasks or co-workers.

The foul smell of stale alcohol on the breath of the ever-present public service vehicle conductor, next-desk co-worker, morning shift supervisor, mathematics teacher, head of department, etc is every bit so nauseating. The driver on the other hand is jerky at the wheel, the boss is unable to concentrate on details of the stock market trends, the secretary’s hand is shaking and she is unable to take short-hand notes, the legal officer is dozing and unable to follow arguments in court, the permanent secretary is tense and frustrated due to marital problems that deliberations at a workshop seem like Greek, the shift-in-charge is woozy in the head and unable to maintain torque on the processing belt, the captain’s sight is hazy and cannot make out calibrations on aircraft instruments, while the physician is numb and unable to determine the patient’s blood pressure  – all of which are physical, social, economic and health hazards in the making!

In a nutshell, drinking among workers threatens public safety, impairs job performance and results in costly medical, social and economic problems that affect employees, employers and the country as a whole. Working at minimal capacity, alcohol abusing workers increase the workloads of others, lower productivity, compromise product or service quality, and generally tarnish the employer’s image while their absences and healthcare demands raise costs. Alcohol reduces the ability to concentrate and this affects work performance including decision-making. It also causes impaired skills, lowers quality of work, and inhibits lack of motivation and sound judgment. Excessive alcohol causes liver damage, brain damage, stomach disorders, high blood pressure, and sexual problems, among others.

Recent studies have shown that taking too much alcohol is not characteristic of any social segment, industry, or occupation. But having “one baada ya kazi” that normally degenerates into alcohol abuse is associated with workplace culture that accepts and tolerates drinking especially in male dominated work stations; the availability and accessibility of alcohol before, during and after work; working in a stressful, boring, or abusive environment; and the existence, awareness and enforcement of workplace alcohol policies. Further, drinking excessive alcohol is a disease that requires both preventive and curative interventions.

Before taking a sip of that alcoholic beverage, stop and ask yourself whether you can do or you cannot do without it. For if you cannot do without the alcohol, then you are addicted and require treatment – which is abundantly available.

Through health promotion and employee assistance programs, persons who have an insatiable affinity for alcohol especially that which tends to be damaging, can get assistance to contain the trend. Studies indicate that health promotion and employee assistance programs have been successfully applied.

Supervisors on the other hand are encouraged to recognize alcohol-related problems and refer employees for diagnosis, treatment, and other assistance; provide confidential and timely assessments; work with community resources to provide needed services; and conduct follow-up after treatment. For self-employed persons or those in the informal sector, assistance can be gotten through Alcoholic Anonymous and NACADAA who may also refer to specialized care centres.

Binge Drinking

Binge drinking is the drinking of  alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. To most people, binge drinking brings to mind a self-destructive and unrestrained drinking bout lasting for at least a couple of days during which time the heavily intoxicated drinker “drops out” by not working, ignoring responsibilities, squandering money, and engaging in other harmful behaviors such as fighting or risky sex. Binge describes an extended period of time (typically at least two days) during which time a person repeatedly becomes intoxicated and gives up his or her usual activities and obligations in order to become intoxicated.
Binge drinking can be immediately and directly harmful to your health. It can expose you and others to risk of injury, or even death. The consequences of these can have long-lasting effects on both your health and well-being. People who should take particular care with alcohol include those who: Have certain health conditions that are made worse by drinking (such as chronic hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver). People who are on medications or have a family history of alcohol-related problems. Women who are pregnant. Anyone who is about to undertake activity involving physical risk or a degree of skill, such as driving, flying, or using complex, heavy or farm machinery should not engage in binge drinking.

Short-term effects

Binge drinking can result in acute intoxication (drunkenness). It can lead people to put themselves in dangerous situations and to take risks with their health and well being. Common short-term effects of binge-drinking episodes are hangovers, headaches, nausea, shakiness and possible vomiting and memory loss. The short-term risks of binge drinking include the risks of harm such as falls, assaults and car accidents. Young people often are not aware of the dangers associated with acute intoxication, and are more likely to indulge in risky behaviour while intoxicated, such as swimming, driving, unsafe or unwanted sex, verbal or physical abuse.

Long-term effects

If someone drinks heavily over a long period of time, they can become physically and psychologically dependent upon alcohol. Their body gets used to functioning with alcohol present and/or drinking can become more important than other activities in their life. Over time, alcohol can damage parts of the body, including the brain and liver. There are also the risks of developing emotional problems, such as depression, and problems at school, work and with relationships.