Humans have consumed alcohol since between 6000 and 5000 B.C.
True
In the United States of 1830, adults' average alcohol consumption was about fivve drinks a day.
True
The highest rates of heavy drinking, and thus the greatest vulnerability to drinking problems, are in men between the ages of 40 and 45.
False
The highest rates are in younger men, ages 18 to 25.
It is difficult to consume a lethal dose of alcohol.
False
It is very easy. The LD 50 of alcohol in humans is about equal to drinking a fifth (25.3 oz) of whiskey in an hour.
If not treated properly, alcohol withdrawal syndromne can be fatal.
True
Alcohol is a drug that has no legitimate medical value.
False
It has legitimate therapeutic uses, such as in medical compounds taken orally or applied externally.
If you drink a lot and black out, it means you have lost consciousness.
False
Blackouts are the loss of memory for events that occur while under the influence of a drug (in this case, alcohol). The drinker was fully conscious when the nonrecalled events happened.
Alcohol causes violent behavior.
False
Alcohol is correlated with the occurence of violent behavior, but cognitive, social, and environmental factors must also be used to explain the alcohol-violence association.
Alcohol improves sexual performance.
False
Pharmacologically, alcohol impairs sexual performance, particularly when BACs reach 0.05% and higher. However, people may percieve that the use of alcohol is associated with freater sexual arousal and better sex performance.
The cognitive deficits that seem to occur in some people as a result of years of heavy drinking are reversibile.
True
The majority of alcoholics eventually develop cirrhosis of the liver.
False
Some chronic heavy drinkers certainly do develop cirrhosis but only a minority of them, about 10-20%.
Moderate drinking (one to three drinks a day) is associated with reduced risk of heart disease.