ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION

A drug or a substance that affects how the brain works and causes changes in mood, awareness, thoughts, feelings or behavior is known as a psychotropic substance.

Caffeine, Alcohol, Nicotine, Marijuana, certain pain medications, Heroin, LSD, Cocaine and Amphetamines are Psychotropic substances.

Alcohol as given above is one of the Psychotropic substances. It is absorbed into the blood stream. It is a chemical depressant that slows down the brain and the central nervous system. It also affects other organs like heart, liver, pancreas, kidneys and the digestive tract. Alcohol puts a person at great risk for cancer and organ failure and slows down the immune system.

The depressant effect of alcohol changes our thinking, judgment, perception, temperature, reaction time, muscle control, vision, hearing, balance, movement, mood and emotions. It can change the size of the brain.

It also impairs decision making capacity. So drinking and driving is asking for trouble. If there is a crunch time in traffic one cannot take a decision fast enough which can result in an easy accident.

Alcohol is the most easily available, widely consumed, and widely abused recreational drug. Beer alone is the worlds most widely consumed alcoholic beverage; it is the third-most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is thought by some to be the oldest fermented beverage.

Much more males drink alcohol than females. Both genetic and environmental factors affect alcohol use.

Alcohol addiction is different from mere alcohol consumption. Addiction is a physical or mental dependence on alcohol and a strong compulsion to drink without any control. They have to drink larger amounts as time passes and it would have severe withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking alcohol.

It is natural to assume that the higher the average alcohol consumption, the higher the addiction. However, research does not point to any such correlation.  

In the alcohol drinkers of the world 3.73% of the males and 0.58% females are addicted to alcohol.  

In India alcohol addiction in males is 3.47% and for females it is 0.42%. So, we are more or less going at the world average.

Heaviest drinking countries of the world by consumption per capita:

1.       Belarus

2.       Lithuania

3.       Grenada

4.       Czech Republic

5.       France

6.       Russia

7.       Iceland

8.       Luxemburg

9.       Slovakia

10.   Germany

Countries with highest male addiction rates:

1.       Russia   (16.29%)

2.       Hungary

3.       Lithuania

4.       South Korea (13.10%)

5.       Latvia

6.       Belarus

7.       Estonia

8.       Niue (Island in the Pacific Ocean, population only 1600)

9.       Colombia

10.   Thailand (10.18%)

Russia is the country that has the highest addiction to alcohol at a big 16.29% of the males and 2.58% of the females.

On the lower end Afghanistan only has 0.18% of males addicted and 0.12% females.

The USA has 5.48% addiction in males & 1.92% in females. So comparing between male & female the female addiction is much more in the US. Perhaps one of the effects of more equality of sexes.

Among the Asian countries South Korea and Thailand are highly addicted.

Countries with highest female addiction rates:

1.       Australia (2.61%)

2.       Russia

3.       Norway

4.       Colombia

5.       Hungary

6.       Sweden (2.27%)

7.       New Zealand

8.       Moldova

9.       Lithuania

10.   Unites States (1.92%)

 

In the entire African continent alcohol addiction is very low low, as is also the case with Middle East Asian countries.

 

OPIUM & its DERIVATIVES

 Opium comes from the seeds of the Poppy plant. Opium has a large number of derivatives, many of them being used as medications for pain. Opium gives out a variety of medications and can be called a wonder drug source for pain alleviation. .

 There are 28 different genera of poppies and hundreds of species. However, only one “Papaver Somniferum” produces Opium.

 Opium itself is highly addictive. The plant has beautiful flowers in red, pink, purple, orange & white, and is grown in gardens. Opium is a depressant and its consumption leads to extreme relaxation, feelings of euphoria and deep sleep. Under the influence of Opium sensory perceptions are altered. Feelings of physical pain and anxiety are reduced while visual stimuli become more vivid.  

 Regular consumption of opium over a long period leads to memory loss, lethargy, epilepsy, delirium tremens and death.

Opium is illicitly produced in 50 countries. However the bulk of it only comes from Afghanistan which accounts for 84% of the world’s production. 7% comes from Myanmar and Mexico produces 6%. These 3 countries together account for 97% of the global production of Opium. Opium production provides 400,000 jobs in Afghanistan and it is sown in 400,000 acres there.

During the Mughal times Opium use has become common in the empire. All the Mughal Emperors except Aurangzeb indulged in it, if not as addicts, at least as users. When Aurangzeb tried to restrict its use, it led to a great discontent.

During British India times the British have run the Opium trade in India. By 1880 60,000 chests(app. 60 Kgs each) of opium was being exported from India. About 1 million farmers in North India in UP and Bihar were engaged in opium cultivation and they were forced to sell the poppy to the British at a loss. The British had 2 Opium factories located on the Ganges river. They had 2500 clerks working in 100 offices to monitor Poppy farmers. All this Opium was being exported to China by the British where it is consumed.

Currently India is the largest manufacturer of legal Opium in the world. It manufactures opium for the pharmaceutical industry. Only 12 countries in the world manufacture legal opium.

In India 2.1% of the country’s population use Opium based substances. 1.14% use Heroin, Pharma Opioids 0.96% & Opium 0.52%. Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram have the highest Opioid use.

The Khas Khas we get are nothing but poppy seeds. However, they come to us after the Opium is removed but they still do have small opium content. 

 The Poppy pod is split open when it is not ripe and the fluid seeps out and dries on the pod in yellow brown color. This is bitter in taste and contains MORPHINE, CODEINE, THEBAINE AND PAPAVERINE.

 Other synthetic derivatives of Opium are FENTANYL, METHADONE, OXYCODONE, HYDRCODONE and also many others.

 MORPHINE, CODEINE, FENTANYL, OXYCODONE & HYDROCODONE are pain killers. They block the signals from traveling to the brain and can treat moderate to severe pain.      

 PAPAVERINE is a vasodilator which relaxes the blood vessels. This lowers blood pressure. It is used for treating chest pain, heart attack and disorders of the stomach & gall bladder. This can also be used to treat erectile dysfunction or impotence.

 HEROIN is derived from Morphine. It is the main source of addiction.

 METHADONE reduces withdrawal symptoms in people addicted to Heroin. It is also a pain reliever.

 HEROIN (DIACETYLMORPHINE): The more popular nicknames of Heroin are Dope, Smack and Junk. It is a white or brown powder or a black sticky substance. It is made from Morphine. It can be mixed with water and injected with a needle. It can also be smoked or snorted up the nose. It sent to the brain very quickly and therefore makes it very addictive. It creates a euphoria in users.

 Use of Heroin results in miscarriages, heart infections, and death from overdose. Syinges can also carry infections like HIV if used in common.

 Regular usage of Heroin can lead to tolerance and more and more ingestion is needed to get the kick. If stopped the withdrawal symptoms include restlessness, muscle and bone pain, Diarrhea, vomiting and cold flashes with goose bumps.

 Long term effects of Heroin are Insomnia, collapsed veins for people who inject, damaged nose tissue for those who sniff or snort, infection of the heart lining and valves, abscesses, constipation & stomach cramps, liver & kidney disease, lung complications, mental disorders, sexual dysfunction for men and  irregular menstrual cycles for women.

 

 

CLONING OF HUMANS.

 

As per definition cloning is “Generation of genetically identical copy of a cell or an Organism”. In genetic research the DNA of an organism is replicated to produce a clone.

In what way is a cloned organism is different from that which is born from a mother by natural birth?

In natural birth the embryo needs a a sperm cell from the male and an egg from the female. They fuse together in the embryo which therefore inherits genetic characteristics from both mother and father.

In cloning this is totally sidestepped. The DNA from the cell is obtained and replicated to form the embryo. Therefore that embryo does not need both father and a mother. The DNA cell can be taken either from a male or a female and that person from whom the cell has been taken becomes the biological parent of the embryo. Thus the embryo is an exact copy of the person from whom the cell is taken without absolutely any change of characteristics.

In 1996, a British Biologist Ian Wilmut generated the first cloned sheep known as “Dolly”. After that other animals like dogs, horses, mules, rats, mice, pigs and goats. However a Primate (the biological Order to which humans belong) could be cloned only in 2018.

Reproductive cloning involves the implantation of a cloned embryo into a real or an artificial uterus.

In 2008, the scientists from Stemagen a company from California announced that they have cloned 5 human embryos and they have matured to the stage where they could be implanted into a womb. However, they destroyed the embryos after 5 days to perform nuclear analysis on them.

Human reproductive cloning remains a huge ethical controversy and is universally condemned. Concerns about eugenics, the notion that the human species could be improved through the selection of individuals possessing desired traits, has surfaced, since cloning could be used to breed “better” humans, thus violating principles of human dignity, freedom, and equality.

Surprisingly effective cloning is around from 1996 when Dolly was created. Immediately after Dolly was cloned a number of people and groups have announced that  they were going to clone a human. But in actuality such a thing never happened at least with proof.

There was a fascinating cult called the “Raelians” who claimed that a religious command from aliens has urged them to go ahead on human cloning. In 1997 they formed an organization called the “Cloneaid” to realize that. They were led by Biochemist Brigitte Boisselier. They had a laboratory in West Virginia for that purpose until they were stopped by the FDA.

They then moved their operations to the Bahamas and in 2002 and announced that a cloned baby named Eve was born in Dec 2002. They claimed that they have brought to life 14 human clones by the year 2004. No one believed them as Cloneaid did not let anyone cross check stating ethical problems.

However, it was found that cloning a Primate is an extremely difficult process with a high failure rate. Even in the creation of Dolly only 1 attempt out of 250 succeeded so the claim of the Raelians is mere hogwash.

As far as we know, no one has created a human clone so far. This is not to say that it is impossible but very difficult. But new systems always come in with research, and this cannot be ruled out in the future. But such a process would have severe repercussion on our society. In a way perhaps it is safer not to experiment with such research.

But then, reproductive cloning may not be safe, but there are other areas of cloning that can be highly beneficial to us. For example by cloning the DNA of a person who requires an organ can be replaced can be used to make a perfect clone that would be perfectly acceptable to the body.

VENEZUELA ECONOMY IN TROUBLE.

 Venezuela holds the largest oil reserves in the world at about 300 billion barrels. It accounts for 18% of the global oil reserves. Venezuela is a case of too much oil wealth which had been utterly mismanaged specially by the previous president Hugo Chavez with wrong policies. It is unbelievable that the economy of a country with so much of resources can be messed up like that. The current inflation rate in Venezuela is 5500%. With that type of inflation it becomes very difficult for the people to barely survive.

The Venezuelan economy is mainly based on petroleum production. From 1940 to 1970 Venezuela had been the world’s largest petroleum exporter. The economy relied on investing the surplus from petroleum in other sectors to diversify the economy. “Sowing the Oil” has been a national slogan since the 1940’s. Venezuela also has rich deposits of iron ore, nickel, coal & bauxite as well as Hydroelectric power which expanded the economy.

During the 1960’s the government relied on import substitution which led to the growth of export oriented industries. In the mid seventies the government nationalized iron ore, oil & gas industries. It then used the revenue from oil exports to fund infrastructure improvement and other public works. By the end of the 20^th century the Venezuelan industry has diversified

The “Sowing the Oil” policy of the country got derailed due to the fluctuation in world oil prices. There were also domestic problems like inflation, corruption, lack of skilled personnel and inefficient management.

The country had a huge foreign debt, high unemployment, population growth and illegal immigration. By the early 21^st century the economy recovered and the entire foreign debt was paid off by the year 2007.  Hugo Chavez was first elected in 1998, and pursued nationalization and a socialist agenda. This resulted in a landslide victory for him in the 2006 election.

Chavez was against the US economic influence in South America and he gave generous loans to his neighboring countries. During Chavez’s presidency mis-management resulted is decline of oil production. Enough investment was not made in the oil sector to maintain it which resulted in the decline of oil production.

At the same time Chavez expanded the social schemes and borrowed heavily for funding them. When the world oil prices had a big fall in 2014, Venezuela ran into deep trouble and between 2014 & 2019 GDP declined by 75%. Nicolas Maduro followed the practices of Chavez and made them worse and in the process he attracted sanctions from the US and other western nations.

Big shortages of food and medicines resulted on account of the sanctions leading to a humanitarian crisis that was abetted by Corona.

The GDP of Venezuela had been declining nonstop from 2012 except for the year 2015. In the year 2011 the GDP was USD 352.5 billion and it came down to just 47.26 billion USD in 2020. That is a decline of 86% in just 10 years. That incidentally is equal to the GDP Venezuela had in the year 1987. So the GDP has reverted to 33 years back figure.

Scarily Venezuela had a shocking inflation level of 65374% in the year 2018, 19906% in 2019, 2355% in 2020 and 5500% in 2021 currently. That is an average of 29212% for the previous 3 years.

Population below poverty line was 20% in 2015, but it shot up to 87% by 2017. 

HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE- A WONDER!!!

 The Hubble Space Telescope is telescope in space. It was launched by NASA in the year 1990 to explore and take pictures of the stars and galaxies.  It is named after the American Astronomer Edwin Hubble and has a 94 inch diameter lens. It cost about USD 5 billion at the time of its launch. It has already completed 30 years of service and is likely to be operational till the year 2030-40. It cost NASA USD 5 billion in 1990 and if built today and deployed its cost would be about USD 20 billion. Subsequently further expensive instrumentation was added by the space missions later. It orbits the earth 547 Km away in space. It has so far made more than a million observations.

Now why does one require a Telescope in space?  It is stationed far above the clouds, beyond light pollution and atmospheric distortions. 5 space missions had reached the Hubble Telescope over the 30 years of its operation which maintained and upgraded its instruments. Hubble Telescopes range extends from Ultraviolet through the Visible and into the near Infrared. This has allowed the telescope to deliver stunning images of stars and galaxies that have inspired people all over the world and changed our understanding of the Universe. Over 18,000 peer reviewed scientific papers have been published on its discoveries.

The Hubble Telescope has changed our understanding of the Cosmos forever by its spectacular path breaking discoveries. It takes pictures of stars and galaxies at huge distances. Actually it takes monochromatic or black & white pics which are later colored as per the elements present and their luminosity by scientists after estimations.   

Following are a few illustrations of Hubble Telescope discoveries: As one sees them, one understands the insignificance of man all the more. One feels eerie to see the “Pillars of Creation” as it is called which is a cloud of dust and gas where innumerable new stars are forming and is 5 light years across. This is considered the most popular photograph taken by the Hubble Telescope. This was how our sun as one of the stars originally formed about 460 crore years ago.  

“PILLARS OF CREATION” IN THE EAGLE NEBULA IN THE CONSTELLATION OF SERPENS. 7000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM THE EARTH. THIS IS A NEBULA MADE OF GAS AND DUST WHERE THOUSANDS OF NEW STARS ARE FORMING. THE LENGTH OF THAT CLOUD IS 5 LIGHT YEARS WHICH IS MORE THAN THE DISTANCE TO THE NEAREST STAR TO US.

HERBIG HARO 901 IS A MASSIVE PILLAR OF GAS AND DUST IN THE CARINA NEBULA, A HUGE STAR FORMATING REGION IN OUR GALAXY SEVERAL LIGHT YEARS ACROSS. 7500 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM US. IT CONTAINS AFEW MASSIVE YOUNG STARS. THIS PIC IS FAMOUSLY KNOWN AS “MYSTIC MOUNTAIN” . HERBIG HARO OBJECTS ARE BRIGHT PATCHES OF GAS AND MATTER ASSOCIATED WITH NEWBORN STARS.

SPIRAL GALAXY NGC 691-LOCATED 120 MILLION LIGHT YEARS FROM EARTH. IT IS BIGGER THAN OUR GALAXY AND IS 130,000 LIGHT YEARS ACROSS COMPARED TO 100,000 LIGHT YEARS FOR MILKY WAY.  

    STAR CLUSTER NGC 330-IN THE SMALLER MAGELANNIC CLOUD- THIS IS A CLUSTER OF STARS 182000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

SPIRAL GALAXY NGC 3254-LOCATD 118 MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY IN THE CONSTELLATION OF LEO MINOR. THIS IS A “SEYFERT GALAXY” WHICH HAS AN EXTREMELY ACTIVE CORE WHICH RELEASES AS MUCH NENERGY AS THE REST OF THE GALAXY TOGETHER. SUCH GALAXIES HAVE SUPER MASSIVE BLACKHOLES AT THE CENTER.  

 STAR CLUSTER NGC 330-IN THE SMALLER MAGELLANIC CLOUD- THIS IS A CLUSTER OF STARS 182000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY.

SPIRAL GALAXY NGC 2276 IS A GALAXY IN THE CONSTELLATION OF CEPHEUS. LIES 120 MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM US.

 GALAXY CLUSTER ACO S 295. THIS IS A CLUSTER OF GALAXIES (AND NOT STARS) LOCATED AN ASTOUNDING 3.5 BILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY. THE IMAGE OF THE CLUSTER IS PEPPERED WITH STARS IN THE FOREGROUD. THE CLUSTER HAS A MASS THAT IS THOUSANDS OF TIMES MORE THAN THE MILKY WAY.

GLOBULAR CLUSTER NGC 6380- STAR CLUSTER IN THE CONSTELLATION OF SCORPIO. DISTANCE 35500 LIGHT YEARS. GLOBULAR CLUSTERS ARE A GROUP OF STARS IN SPHERICAL SHAPE HELD TOGETHER BY GRAVITY. THE VERY BRIGHT STAR ON THE TOP LEFT IS HD159073 WHICH IS ONLY 4000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM THE EARTH IN FRONT OF THE GALAXY.

DIAMOND NECKLACE-INTERCATION OF 2  DOOMED STARS. PN G054.2-03.4 ALso KNOWN AS NECKLACE NEBULA LOCATED 15000 LIGHT YEARS AWAY FROM US. FORMED BY TWO CLOSELY ORBITING SUNLIKE STARS. WHEN ONE OF THE TWO STARS AGED AND EXPANDED THE OTHER SMALLER ORBITED IT. THE MASSIVE INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE TWO PROXIMATE STARS HAVE GIVEN RISE TO THE DIAMOND EFFECT.