Since COVID-19 has calmed down, drinking parties such as MT (membership training), festivals, meetings, and company dinners are being revived. In Korea, drinking alcohol is a common way to form family ties and build relations with others, and this significant drinking culture of Korea is deeply ingrained in social structure. However, excessive drinking not only has negative consequences but is also the cause of disease.

 Recently, the National Cancer Center conducted a ‘nationwide recognition survey about drinking and smoking’ among 7,000 adult men and women aged 20 to 69 nationwide. As a result, they found that 7 out of 10 people didn’t know about the fact that alcohol is definitely a carcinogen that causes cancer. Alcohol is recognized officially by the International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC) as a substance that has an obvious correlation with cancer. When you drink, acetaldehyde, a genotoxic substance, occurs in your body in the process of alcoholysis. Aldehyde dehydrogenase is needed for detoxification, but if this is genetically deficient in your body, the dangers of cancerization such as liver cancer, oral cancer, cancer of the esophagus, pharynx cancer, colorectal cancer, and breast cancer increase. 20.0% to 25.0% of Koreans have insufficient aldehyde dehydrogenase, so it is essential to practice caution. On the other hand, in spite of the dangerousness of alcohol, 46.9% of survey respondents thought that one drink or two drinks have no influence on health, and 18.0% of respondents believed that one or two drinks are beneficial to health. Especially, young people in their 20s and 30s often had more than 10 drinks at a time. 

 Next, when you drink alcohol, you may experience a symptom which is called blackout. Blackout is a phenomenon in which people temporarily do not remember the day before after drinking too much. In the past, it was said that it was related to the amount of alcohol drunk, but a recent study shows that it is related to the blood alcohol level and the speed of drinking alcohol. Ethanol components contained in alcohol suppress glutamic acid activity between nerve cells, resulting in a blackout. Frequent blackouts can lead to hippocampal contraction due to reduced oxygen transfer to the brain, which can eventually lead to people developing early dementia in their 50s. In addition, brain cells may be damaged and this is called alcoholic dementia. To prevent such blackouts, we should take precautions such as eating enough before drinking, not smoking and drinking together, and drinking slowly. 

 Alcoholism, unlike blackouts, is a chronic disease. People with alcoholism desire to drink alcohol excessively. The World Health Organization has defined alcohol as a drug ingredient. This makes alcohol-dependent patients in the same class as drug addicts. Alcoholism often develops as users increase their own alcohol intake to feel drunk. According to statistics, alcohol-dependent patients are decreasing. However, recent studies show that due to COVID-19, the number of alcohol patients in their 50s and 60s has soared as they spend more time at home. This kind of situation can eventually lead to a lonely death. According to the 2021 statistics, 51.2% of patients who died of alcoholism were estimated to have died alone. Social problems caused by such alcoholism cannot be overlooked. 

 Despite the dangers of alcohol, Korean society tends to be tolerant of drinking. In accordance with a recent survey by the National Cancer Center, 88.5% of people know that cigarettes are carcinogens, but only 33.6% know that alcohol is carcinogen. In addition, alcohol can lead people to commit crimes such as blackout crimes and drunk driving, but these are crimes committed while drunk, which means that the perpetrator cannot recognize the fact even after committing the crime. Considering that 23.81% of the five major violent crimes (murder, robbery, rape, theft, and violence) in Korea are often alcohol-related crimes, it is necessary to be fully aware of the risk of drinking because you become unable to control yourself due to excessive drinking.

 Such excessive drinking can cause many risks both socially and personally, including cancer, various crimes, and alcoholism. Nevertheless, just a few years ago, Korean society was forced to hold drinking parties and dinners with the aim of creating a sense of solidarity and harmony. In particular, the idea of relieving stress in daily life through drinking can lead to binge drinking. Therefore the government is desperate to increase awareness of the harms of alcohol, strengthen alcohol control policies and improve the drinking culture.

79th Reporter • YUN SI O • ysbcindy1026@naver.com

79th Reporter • KIM JAE SEOK • jaiystone@gmail.com