Alcohol and Health

 

The only common alcohol that humans can digest is ethanol, C2H5OH, usually known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol. When eaten in an aqueous solution, alcohol is easily absorbed by the body. All typical alcoholic beverages are ethanol aqueous solutions.

Although most alcohol absorption occurs in the small intestine, it often begins in the stomach. Because alcohol is dispersed to all physiological fluids (in proportion to their water content), it may be detected and quantified in blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, and pulmonary water vapor. This information is used in drug testing for alcohol levels.

Metabolism

Only around 2% of alcohol ingested is eliminated unaltered by the lungs or kidneys. The remainder is processed by the body by biological oxidation using the enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. These are induced enzymes (made in response to a requirement) that are more abundant in heavy drinkers than in nondrinkers.

Alcohol dehydrogenase is a protein that catalyzes the conversion of ethyl alcohol to acetaldehyde.

Acetaldehyde is a moderately poisonous chemical that is thought to be the main cause of headaches and hangovers.

Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is the second enzyme that catalyzes the oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetate. A limited quantity of acetate enters the Krebs cycle (cellular digestion), while other acetate molecules enter the body's other energy-conversion pathways. The remaining acetate is stored as long-chain fatty acids before being oxidized to create carbon dioxide and water.

Although there is considerable personal variation, the body can only digest roughly one drink (11/4 fluid ounces [0.036 liters]) each hour. Because the oxidation processes are enzyme-catalyzed, there is nothing that can be done to hasten them up.

The liver is in charge of processing alcohol. Excessive amounts of alcohol, on the other hand, cannot be metabolized in a single pass through the liver. As a result, alcohol can have an immediate effect on other sections of the body. Most tissue impacts are part of a complex, interconnected chain of events.

Physiological Effects

Alcohol acts as a vasodilator (the blood vessels dilate or enlarge). Chronically dilated veins are frequently connected with liver illness, and the chronic alcoholic's "enlarged crimson nose" is generally the consequence of permanently dilated blood vessels.

Hematemesis can result from esophageal vein dilation (vomiting blood). Because of bursting esophageal blood arteries, late-stage alcoholics have been known to drown in their own blood.

Alcohol intake causes edema, or the buildup of tissue fluid, because as blood vessels expand, proteins and fluids within the capillaries leak into the interstitial space.

The concentration of cells between them causes tissue swelling. There is obvious dehydration since the fluid is not within the blood vessels. Jaundice (yellowing of the bodily tissues) is usually caused by an excess of bilirubin (a normal body pigment) in the extracellular fluids and can be an indication of liver illness.

Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressive, which means that it reduces the central nervous system's efficiency.

Alcohol is also a depressive of all main physiological systems. A large amount of alcohol acts as an anesthetic. Alcohol also lowers psychological inhibition, making it appear to be a stimulant.

Alcohol is classified as a biphasic substance by psychologists due to its apparent stimulation of some behavior. The symptoms of inebriation are caused by the combination of CNS depression and inhibition release. Drunkenness, a phrase with no exact meaning, fluctuates according to body size, metabolic rate, individual absorption, and individual tolerance.

Chronic Alcoholism

Prolonged alcohol usage can result in compensating strategies for decreased normal nervous system functioning. Because the neurological system tends to "work harder" to maintain homeostasis, withdrawal of alcohol may cause excessive excitation, leading to convulsions, seizures, and eventually delirium tremens (the DTs), a state of restlessness, confusion, and hallucinations.

Mental impairment in chronic alcohol consumption is difficult to evaluate since some impairment is reparable either by itself or by the development of alternate neural pathways in the brain. Personality loss is one of the most apparent reparable deficits.

Other physiological involvements include sleep apnea, reduced REM (restful) sleep, migraines, testosterone suppression, pancreatic inflammation, and blood electrolyte imbalance.

Poor diet is the main nutritional issue with drinking. Furthermore, excessive alcohol use frequently causes gastrointestinal irritation, which can lead to ulcers, colitis (inflamed colon), and other chronic diseases.

It is believed that 10% of the world's population is hooked to alcohol. There is most likely no one cause of alcoholism. Certain genetic indicators have been identified, and the genetic component of alcoholism has been extensively researched. However, genetics alone cannot explain all cases of alcoholism. 

Alcohol addiction has also been linked to psychological factors. The only therapy for most alcoholics is complete abstinence from alcohol and involvement in a group such as Alcoholics Anonymous.

The alcoholic's body does not "forget" alcohol, and the previously stated triggered enzymes remain ready to restart their metabolic activities if alcohol usage is resumed.