Alcoholism and Its Effects Alcoholism Alcoholism is when there is a progressive, excessive inappropriate drinking of alcohol. Alcoholism is thought to come from a combination of a huge range of psychological, social, and genetic factors. Alcoholism comes from emotional and sometimes physical dependence, but the alcohol normally leads to brain damage or early death. Ten percent of adult of adult drinkers in the U.S. are considered alcoholics or they experience drinking problems to some …showed first 75 words of 509 total…

…showed last 75 words of 509 total…amount of alcohol consumed by the mother during pregnancy. Most of the damage starts in the first trimester (first three months of pregnancy) when the embryo (developing fetus) is being developed. Binge drinking, or heavy alcohol consumption when sitting, is hazardous to the fetus, beacuse very high levels of alcohol is passed into the blood of the fetus through the placenta. The United States surgeon general recommends that women stop drinking alcohol entirely during pregnancy.