Substance Abuse Chapter 9 Study Questions

Alcoholic beverages form when yeasts act upon sugars in the process of…

Fermenation

Heating a solution of alcohol and water, then collecting the alcohol vapors and condensing them into a liquid with a higher alcohol content, is called

Distillation

The alcoholic content of beverages is indicated by the term "proof," which is

twice the percentage of alcohol

In most commercial beers sold in the U.S., the alcohol content is about

4%

Many large commercial distilleries produce grain neutral spirits, which are

95 percent pure alcohol, the basis for gin and vodka.

When alcohol is formed, other related substances are also formed, called

congeners

Benjamin Rush, a physician who also signed the Declaration of Independence, was the first to

refer to alcohol addiction as a disease.

In the U.S., national prohibition of alcohol sales was in effect from

1920 to 1933

Although national prohibition of alcohol did reduce alcohol-related deaths and hospitalizations, it was repealed partly because of the growth of organized crime and partly because

of a desire to reduce the income tax.

Age 21 became the legal drinking age in all U.S. states in what year?

1988

Americans drink most of their alcohol in the form of

beer

Total per-capita consumption of alcohol

has declined considerably from its peak in 1981.

Which of these states has the highest per-capita sales of alcohol?
-Texas
-California
-New Hampshire
-Georgia

New Hampshire

About what percentage of college students reports drinking alcohol at least once within the past month?

63%

Which of these substances speeds up the absorption of alcohol?
-plain water
-starchy foods
-carbonated water
-meat products

Carbonated liquids

One major factor determining individual differences in BAC after drinking alcohol is

Proportion of body fat

Although the exact mechanisms for alcohol’s action in the brain are not completely understood, it is now believed that the most important of its many effects is

enhancing GABA’s inhibitory effects.

In a typical person, intoxication to the point of staggering and greatly impaired sensory perception occurs at about what BAC?

0.25%

The liver enzyme primarily responsible for metabolizing alcohol is

alcohol dehydrogenase.

Research studies in which half the participants are told they are drinking alcohol and half are not, with half of each group actually receiving alcohol and half not, are using the ___________ design

Balanced placebo

At a BAC of 0.08, the relative risk of being involved in a fatal automobile crash is about

three times as great as for a sober driver.

The total number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities per year in the U.S.

has declined from the peak year of 1980

Which of the following are signs of alcohol poisoning?
-Breathing rate is slow or irregular
-Skin is cold and clammy
-Vomiting and then loss of consciousness
-all of the above.

all of the above.

Breath samples to determine BAC

provide an accurate indicator of BAC across a wide range.

Fairly high doses of alcohol interfere with erection of the penis in males, probably because of

Impaired processing of erotic signals

In studies relating homicide to alcohol use,

about half of all murderers and about half of all homocide victims had been drinking.

Over one thousand people die in the U.S. each year from alcohol overdose. It is particularly dangerous to

begin drinking again after vomiting.

Heavy drinkers with Wernicke’s disease (vitamin B1 deficiency) also usually exhibit memory deficits and other mental problems associated with

Korsakoff’s psychosis

"Wailing of cats", "out of tune", "workmen in my head" all refer to

alcohol-related hangover

Cirrhosis of the liver can result from drinking alcohol

in large amounts (a pint of whiskey a day) for ten years or more.

Heart attacks are

less likely for those who drink one drink per day.

Growth retardation, small head circumference, small eyes, flattened bridge of the nose, and mental retardation are signs of

fetal alcohol syndrome.

Among women classified as problem drinkers, the rate of FAS is about

23 to 29 per 1,000 births.

Tremors, hallucinations, delusions, and seizures are all symptoms associated with

alcohol withdrawal syndrome

In balanced-placebo experiments with drinkers who meet the criteria of alcohol dependence, if they are given a beverage that they are led to believe has no alcohol, but that actually does have a small amount of alcohol in it, they

do not report intoxication and do not increase their drinking

If one member of a pair of identical twins is dependent on alcohol, the other twin

has about a 50 percent chance of also being dependent on alcohol.

T or F: Distillation is the process in which yeasts transform sugars into alcohol.

False

T or F: The alcohol concentration of most wines is about 40 percent.

False

T or F: National prohibition of alcohol sales in the U.S. from 1920-1933 reduced alcohol-related hospitalizations and deaths, and apparently reduced overall per capita consumption of alcohol.

True

T or F: Before 1988, several states had minimum drinking ages lower than 21.

True

T or F: Alcohol metabolism is a two-step process. In the first step, alcohol dehydrogenase converts alcohol into acetaldehyde.

True

T or F: The minimum BAC to be considered driving under the influence in most states is .15 percent.

False

T or F: Scientific evidence supports both parts of Shakespeare’s 400 year old statement concerning alcohol and sex: "It provokes the desire but it takes away the performance."

True

T or F: Alcohol is involved in about 1/3 of all suicides.

True

T or F: Despite changes in alcohol related laws and rules, rates of binge drinking and driving after drinking have slightly increased in recent years.

True

T or F: In addition to alcohol related deaths, there are over 40,000 deaths each year in the U.S. from alcohol poisoning.

False

T or F: Hangover prevention products sold on TV and over the internet are actually pretty effective if they contain activated charcoal.

False

T or F: The risk of fetal alcohol syndrome is much greater among women who are classified as problem drinkers, but still occurs in fewer than 10 percent of births in the problem-drinking group.

True

T or F: Through a one-step process in the stomach, alcohol is converted directly to acetic acid (a non-toxic chemical).

False

T or F: All hangovers are mostly caused by the presence of congeners in the alcoholic beverage.

False