Health and Wellness

Substance Use and Abuse

Chapter 13

 

 

Terminology Review:

 

1.  Drugs - Chemicals other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body.

 

2.  Psychoactive drug - Any chemical other than food that, when taken into the body, can alter

     the user’s consciousness.

 

3.  Intoxication - The state of being mentally affected by a chemical.

 

4.  Addictive behavior – Any habit that has gotten out of control, resulting in a negative impact

     on a person’s health.

 

5.  Substance abuse – A maladaptive pattern of use of any substance that persists despite adverse

    social, psychological, or medical consequences.  The pattern may be intermittent, with or without

    tolerance and physical dependence.

 

6.  Physical dependence – The result of physiological adaptation that occurs in response to  

     the frequent presence of a drug; typically associated with tolerance and withdrawal.

 

7.  Substance dependence – A cluster of cognitive, behavioral, and physiological symptoms that

    occur in an individual who continues to use a substance despite suffering significant substance-related

    problems, leading to significant

     impairment or distress; also known as addiction.

                                                                                                                                             

8.  Tolerance - Lower sensitivity to a drug so that a given dose no longer exerts the usual effect

      and larger does are needed.

 

9.  Withdrawal symptoms - Unpleasant physical and mental sensations experienced when

      abstaining from a drug upon which one is dependent.

 

10.  Ethyl alcohol - The ingredient in fermented liquors that causes intoxication; a colorless

       pungent liquid.

 

11.  Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) - The amount of alcohol in the blood in terms of

       weight per unit volume.

 

12.  Cirrhosis - A disease caused by excessive and chronic drinking in which liver cells are first

       damaged and then destroyed and replaced by fibrous scar tissue.

 

13.  Fetal alcohol syndrome – (FSA) A characteristic group of birth defects caused by

      excessive alcohol consumption by the mother, including facial deformities, heart defects,

      and physical and mental impairments.

 

14.  Alcohol abuse - The use of alcohol to a degree that causes physical damage, impairs

       functioning, or results in behavior harmful to others.

 

15.  Alcohol dependence – A pathological use of alcohol, or impairment in functioning due to alcohol;

      characterized by tolerance and withdrawal symptoms; alcoholism.

 

16.  Alcoholism – A chronic psychological disorder characterized by excessive and compulsive drinking.

 

17.  Binge drinking – Periodically drinking alcohol to the point of severe intoxication.

 

18.  DTs (delirium tremens) - A state of confusion brought on by reduction of alcohol intake in

       an alcohol-dependent person; other symptoms are sweating, trembling, anxiety, and hallucinations,

       and seizures.

 

19.  Nicotine - A poisonous substance found in tobacco and responsible for many of the effects of

       tobacco.

 

20.  Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) - Smoke that enters the atmosphere from the burning

      end of a cigarette, cigar, or pipe, as well as smoke that is exhaled by smokers; the combination

      of mainstream and sidestream smoke.

 

21.  Mainstream smoke - Smoke that is inhaled by a smoker and then exhaled into the

      atmosphere.

 

22.  Sidestream smoke - “Secondhand smoke” that comes from the burning end of a cigarette,

      cigar, or pipe.

 

23. Ecotopic pregnancy - A pregnancy in which the fertilized egg implants itself in an oviduct

      rather than in the uterus; the embryo must be surgically removed.

 

Study Questions:

 

1.  What is a drug?

 

2.  To whom is tobacco hazardous?

 

3.  What are the health hazards of tobacco use?

 

4.  What bodily changes occur when a person quits smoking?

 

5.  What are the health consequences of environmental tobacco smoke?

 

6.  What options are available for someone who wants to quit using tobacco?

 

7.  What effect does ethyl alcohol have on the human body? 

 

8.  What are the health consequences of alcohol abuse?

 

9.  What is alcohol abuse?

 

10.  What can a person do to drink responsibly?

 

11.  Why do people use drugs?

 

12.  What are some warning signs of drug dependency?

 

13.  What are some alternatives to using drugs?