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It is estimated that about one-third of alcohol-related deaths are due to accidents and another 14% are from intentional injury. [ 23 ] In addition to respiratory failure and accidents caused by its effects on the central nervous system, alcohol causes significant metabolic derangements.
After tobacco, alcohol accounts for a higher burden of disease than any other drug. Alcohol use is a major cause of preventable liver disease worldwide, and alcoholic liver disease is the main alcohol-related chronic medical illness. [6] Millions of people of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly, engage in unhealthy drinking. [7]
Forensic toxicology is a multidisciplinary field that combines the principles of toxicology with expertise in disciplines such as analytical chemistry, pharmacology and clinical chemistry to aid medical or legal investigation of death, poisoning, and drug use. [1]
Drug overdose was the leading cause of injury death in 2013. Among people 25 to 64 years old, drug overdose caused more deaths than motor vehicle traffic crashes. There were 43,982 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2013. Of these, 22,767 (51.8%) were related to prescription drugs. [33]
In the early 2000s, the monetary cost of alcohol-related crime in the United States alone has been estimated at over $205 billion, twice the economic cost of all other drug-related crimes. [8] In a similar period in the United Kingdom, the cost of crime and its antisocial effects was estimated at £7.3 billion. [9]
Another one of alcohol's agreeable effects is body relaxation, which is possibly caused by neurons transmitting electrical signals in an alpha waves-pattern; such waves are actually observed (with the aid of EEGs) whenever the body is relaxed. [citation needed] Short-term effects of alcohol include the risk of injuries, violence, and fetal ...
Drug-drug interactions can occur when certain drugs are administered at the same time. Effects of this can be additive (outcome is greater than those of one individual drug), less than additive (therapeutic effects are less than those of one individual drug), or functional alterations (one drug changes how another is absorbed, distributed, and ...
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is defined as a medical condition characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite adverse social, occupational, or health consequences. [124] Excessive alcohol use can lead to health-related illness and continuous alcohol engagement can ultimately lead to death.