Factors Affecting Intoxication – Alcohol affects each person differently. It also affects the same person differently on different occasions. The following are some of the factors that affect how quickly a person will become intoxicated: Gender – Alcohol affects men and women differently.
- In some women, the effects of alcohol tend to be stronger and last longer.
- This may be due to women having higher levels of estrogen, body fat, and lower levels of body water than men.
- All of which limits the amount of alcohol absorbed into tissues, thus remaining in the bloodstream.
- Men, on the other hand, typically have more of the enzymes that break down alcohol in the stomach before being absorbed into their bloodstream.
Mood – Alcohol exaggerates the mood of a person. An individual who is depressed may become severely depressed while drinking. People who are fatigued or stressed become intoxicated more quickly than people who are rested and relaxed. Physical, mental, or emotional exhaustion will increase the impairment caused by alcohol.
Food in the stomach – Food slows down the rate of intoxication because food causes the pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach to close while digestion takes place. This keeps alcohol from entering the small intestine, where most of it is absorbed. The best foods for slowing intoxication are greasy, high-protein and fatty foods because they are more difficult to digest and stay in the stomach longer.
For example: meat balls, chicken wings, cheese, pizza, dips, fried foods, nachos, and beef tacos. Amount of alcohol consumed – The more alcohol a person consumes, the more it accumulates in the blood, increasing intoxication. The liver can only get rid of about one drink per hour.
- Speed of consumption – A person who drinks rapidly or gulps drinks becomes intoxicated faster than a person who sips or drinks slowly because they ingest a larger amount of alcohol over the same period.
- Tolerance to alcohol – Tolerance is the body’s ability to adapt to toxic substances like alcohol.
- Tolerance varies from person to person, but some have a naturally high tolerance, while others may develop high tolerance through habitual drinking.
A person with a high tolerance may appear sober to others when they are extremely impaired. Physical condition – A person who is out of shape becomes intoxicated more quickly than a person who is muscular. Fat does not absorb blood, water, or alcohol, while muscle does.
- Medication/Drugs – Mixing alcohol and medications/drugs together can lead to serious physical, behavioral, and health complications.
- Not only can alcohol and drugs increase the effects of each substance, they can also trigger dangerous interactions.
- The side effects of combining alcohol with drugs may range from mere discomfort to life-threatening reactions.
Alcohol should not be sold to a person who has taken any drug. Carbonation – Carbonated alcoholic drinks increase the rate of alcohol absorption. This is because the pressure inside the stomach and small intestine force the alcohol to be absorbed more quickly into the bloodstream.
- 1 Do people metabolize alcohol at the same rate?
- 2 How much alcohol do I lose per hour?
- 3 Do fat people metabolize alcohol faster?
- 4 Why do Asians get red with alcohol?
- 5 Why am I drinking a lot but not getting drunk?
- 6 Do occasional drinkers metabolize it faster than chronic drinkers?
- 7 What is the drinking 1 hour rule?
- 8 Can one night of drinking cause liver damage?
- 9 Where is 95% of alcohol metabolized in the body?
At what rate is alcohol metabolized?
How Fast Can You Sober Up? – Alcohol leaves the body at an average rate of 0.015 g/100mL/hour, which is the same as reducing your BAC level by 0.015 per hour. For men, this is usually a rate of about one standard drink per hour. However, there are other factors that affect intoxication level (gender, some medications, illness) that will cause BAC to rise more quickly, and fall more slowly.
Do people metabolize alcohol at the same rate?
THE GENETICS BEHIND METABOLISM – Regardless of how much a person consumes, the body can only metabolize a certain amount of alcohol every hour (2). That amount varies widely among individuals and depends on a range of factors, including liver size (1) and body mass.
- In addition, research shows that different people carry different variations of the ADH and ALDH enzymes.
- These different versions can be traced to variations in the same gene.
- Some of these enzyme variants work more or less efficiently than others; this means that some people can break down alcohol to acetaldehyde, or acetaldehyde to acetate, more quickly than others.
A fast ADH enzyme or a slow ALDH enzyme can cause toxic acetaldehyde to build up in the body, creating dangerous and unpleasant effects that also may affect an individual’s risk for various alcohol-related problems—such as developing alcoholism. The type of ADH and ALDH an individual carries has been shown to influence how much he or she drinks, which in turn influences his or her risk for developing alcoholism (11).
For example, high levels of acetaldehyde make drinking unpleasant, resulting in facial flushing, nausea, and a rapid heart beat. This “flushing” response can occur even when only moderate amounts of alcohol are consumed. Consequently, people who carry gene varieties for fast ADH or slow ALDH, which delay the processing of acetaldehyde in the body, may tend to drink less and are thus somewhat “protected” from alcoholism (although, as discussed later, they may be at greater risk for other health consequences when they do drink).
Genetic differences in these enzymes may help to explain why some ethnic groups have higher or lower rates of alcohol-related problems. For example, one version of the ADH enzyme, called ADH1B*2, is common in people of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean descent but rare in people of European and African descent (12).
- Another version of the ADH enzyme, called ADH1B*3, occurs in 15 to 25 percent of African Americans (13).
- These enzymes protect against alcoholism (14) by metabolizing alcohol to acetaldehyde very efficiently, leading to elevated acetaldehyde levels that make drinking unpleasant (15).
- On the other hand, a recent study by Spence and colleagues (16) found that two variations of the ALDH enzyme, ALDH1A1*2 and ALDH1A1*3, may be associated with alcoholism in African-American people.
Although these genetic factors influence drinking patterns, environmental factors also are important in the development of alcoholism and other alcohol-related health consequences. For example, Higuchi and colleagues (17) found that as alcohol consumption in Japan increased between 1979 and 1992, the percentage of Japanese alcoholics who carried the protective ADH1B*2 gene version increased from 2.5 to 13 percent.
Why do I metabolize alcohol so fast?
Genetics and Metabolism – The size of the liver and body mass of the drinker are factors in how much alcohol a person can metabolize in an hour, but research tells us that the genetic makeup of the individual is probably the most significant factor in how efficiently alcohol is broken down and eliminated.
- Variations of ADH and ALDH enzymes have been traced to variations in the genes that produce these enzymes.
- Some people have ADH and ALDH enzymes that work less efficiently than others, while others have enzymes that work more effectively.
- Simply put, this means some people have enzymes that can break down alcohol to acetaldehyde or acetaldehyde to acetate, more quickly than others.
If someone has a fast-acting ADH enzyme or a slow-acting ALDH enzyme, they can have toxic acetaldehyde build up in the body, which can create dangerous or unpleasant effects when they drink alcohol.
How much alcohol do I lose per hour?
On average, alcohol is removed from the body at the rate of about one unit an hour.
Do fat people metabolize alcohol faster?
Alcohol Absorption Rate FAQs – How long does it take for the body to absorb alcohol? Alcohol burns off at a rate of,016 BAC per hour, which is equal to about one standard drink each hour depending on the person’s weight. This rate is true regardless of the size of the person’s body.
A 5’3″ female will burn off alcohol at the same rate as an overweight 6’1″ male. How does body fat affect alcohol absorption? Alcohol absorption varies depending upon the person’s body fat level. For instance, a person with a higher percentage of body fat will be slower to absorb alcohol than someone with less.
When two people of the same weight but different body fat levels drink the same amount, the person with less fat will absorb the alcohol faster than the one with more body fat. However, the absorption of the alcohol will metabolize at the same rate. How long does it take to burn off alcohol? With a BAC of 0.08% (legal limit), it will take approximately 5 hours to reach 0.
- For a BAC of 0.10%, it will take approximately 6.25 hours to reach 0, and for a BAC of 0.16% (2x the legal limit), it will take approximately 10 hours to reach 0.
- For someone with a BAC of 0.20%, it will take around 12.5 hours to reach 0.
- I have a high tolerance.
- How does that affect BAC? This is called functional tolerance which is the body’s decrease in sensitivity to the effects of alcohol.
While a person exhibiting functional tolerance will not seem as intoxicated as someone with little or no functional tolerance, it’s important to know that this behavioral adaption has no effect on the liver’s ability to eliminate alcohol at the rate of one drink per hour.
Is 80% of alcohol metabolized by your liver?
What happens after I drink alcohol? – After you swallow an alcoholic drink, about 25 per cent of the alcohol is absorbed straight from your stomach into the bloodstream. The rest is mostly absorbed from your small bowel. How quickly you absorb the alcohol depends on several factors, including:
the concentration of alcohol in your drink (drinks with a higher alcohol concentration are generally absorbed faster); whether your drink is carbonated (champagne, for example, is absorbed more quickly than non-sparkling drinks); and whether your stomach is full or empty (food slows down the absorption of alcohol).
Once alcohol has entered your bloodstream it remains in your body until it is processed. About 90-98 per cent of alcohol that you drink is broken down in your liver. The other 2-10 per cent of alcohol is removed in your urine, breathed out through your lungs or excreted in your sweat.
Is it harder to metabolize alcohol as you age?
Most people drink less as they grow older. However, some maintain heavy drinking patterns throughout life, and some develop problems with alcohol for the first time during their later years. The many challenges that can arise at this stage of life — reduced income, failing health, loneliness, and the loss of friends and loved ones — may cause some people to drink to escape their feelings.
Several factors combine to make drinking — even at normal levels — an increasingly risky behavior as you age. Your ability to metabolize alcohol declines. After drinking the same amount of alcohol, older people have higher blood alcohol concentrations than younger people because of such changes as a lower volume of total body water and slower rates of elimination of alcohol from the body.
That means the beer or two you could drink without consequence in your 30s or 40s has more impact in your 60s or 70s. Your body might also experience other age-related changes that increase the risks associated with drinking. Your eyesight and hearing may deteriorate; your reflexes might slow.
- These kinds of changes can make you feel dizzy, high, or intoxicated even after drinking only a small amount.
- As a result, older people are more likely to have alcohol-related falls, automobile collisions, or other kinds of accidents.
- Drinking can also worsen many medical conditions common among older people, such as high blood pressure and ulcers.
In addition, older people tend to take more medicines than younger individuals, and mixing alcohol with over-the-counter and prescription drugs can be dangerous or even fatal. To learn more about addiction diagnosis and treatment methods, read Overcoming Addiction, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
Does exercise metabolize alcohol faster?
Abstract – Alcohol use, particularly excessive alcohol consumption is one of the most serious health risks in the world. A relationship between sport, exercise and alcohol consumption is clear and long-standing. Alcohol continues to be the most frequently consumed drug among athletes and habitual exercisers and alcohol-related problems appear to be more common in these individuals.
Alcohol use is directly linked to the rate of injury sustained in sport events and appears to evoke detrimental effects on exercise performance capacity. The model of alcohol consumption in human experimental studies has either been acute (single dose) or chronic (repeated doses over a period). These studies suggested that alcohol consumption decreases the use of glucose and amino acids by skeletal muscles, adversely affects energy supply and impairs the metabolic process during exercise.
In addition, chronic alcohol use is associated with increased citrate synthase activity and decreased cross-sectional area of type I, IIa and IIb fibres. There is evidence to suggest that exercise may attenuate the ethanol-induced decline in hepatic mitochondria and accelerates ethanol metabolism by the liver.
- Exercise training seems to reduce the extent of the oxidative damage caused by ethanol.
- Evidence generated from in vitro experiments and animal studies have also suggested that ethanol administration decreased skeletal muscle capillarity and increased pyruvate kinase and lactate dehydrogenase activities.
Substantial epidemiological evidence has been accrued showing that moderate ingestion of alcohol may reduce the incidence of cardiovascular diseases. Although the existing evidence is often confusing and disparate, one of the mechanisms by which alcohol may reduce the incidence of mortality of cardiovascular diseases is through raising levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
- Available evidence suggests that exercise and moderate alcohol consumption may have favourable effects on blood coagulation and fibrinolysis; however, compelling experimental evidence is lacking to endorse this notion.
- Occasional and chronic alcohol consumption is usually linked with unfavourable alterations in platelet aggregation and function and may be associated with platelet-related thrombus formation.
Although the effects of alcohol consumption on the rheological properties of the blood are not known, recent experimental evidence suggests that alcohol use following exercise is associated with unfavourable changes in the main determinants of blood viscosity.
Why do Asians get red with alcohol?
What causes alcohol flush reaction? – Image The alcohol flush reaction is a type of alcohol intolerance—not an “alcohol allergy”—and is a condition predominantly due to inherited variations in genes of certain enzymes, causing people to metabolize alcohol less efficiently. During alcohol metabolism, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) converts alcohol to acetaldehyde, a toxic molecule.
The resulting acetaldehyde is metabolized to nontoxic molecules by another enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). If acetaldehyde is not metabolized efficiently, it can cause release of histamine and thereby trigger flushing and other unpleasant symptoms. Variations in the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, ADH1B, and the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene, ALDH2, are well-known variations that lead to higher acetaldehyde levels due to altered alcohol metabolism and are more common among people of East Asian ancestry.
People of other races and ethnicities, however, can also carry these variations. People who take certain medications that alter alcohol metabolism can also experience the alcohol flush reaction. Such medications include those used to treat diabetes, high cholesterol, and infections.
Why am I drinking a lot but not getting drunk?
People who don’t get drunk – Some people seem to drink without getting drunk. It’s tempting to admire those individuals as if this kind of drinking is something to aspire to. In our culture, we idolise people who can hold their liquor. But in reality, if someone drinks a lot and never seems to get drunk, they have developed a high tolerance for alcohol.
- Tolerance occurs because of your body’s remarkable ability to process alcohol.
- Unlike with other drugs, your body actually tries to adapt to alcohol’s persistent presence.
- And so, over time, you find yourself drinking more to experience the same effects.
- Your tolerance for alcohol isn’t a badge of honour.
It’s a problem. Remember when you first drank alcohol? One or two drinks would have a big impact on you. If you’ve been drinking consistently for a while, you might have three, four or more drinks without really feeling drunk. But this doesn’t mean there aren’t effects, and you haven’t suddenly become immune to alcohol.
- Even if you don’t feel drunk, you can still be dangerously over the limit for driving, your judgement can be impaired, and you can do yourself hidden damage.
- Your tolerance for alcohol isn’t a badge of honour.
- It’s a problem.
- Tolerance isn’t the same thing as being physically dependent on alcohol, but you should take it as a warning sign.
If you become physically dependent on alcohol, your body relies on it to function. Once you get to that stage, suddenly stopping can be dangerous, even deadly, as you begin to experience alcohol withdrawal symptoms, And you don’t need to be drinking every day to experience these consequences.
Do occasional drinkers metabolize it faster than chronic drinkers?
An individual who has been a drinker for years will metabolize alcohol at a slower rate than an individual who drinks only rarely. The rate of alcohol metabolism can be affected by genetic factors and race/ethnicity.
What is the drinking 1 hour rule?
What Is the One Drink an Hour Rule? – Many people follow the “one drink an hour rule” to avoid going over the blood alcohol content of 0.08%. Essentially, the one drink per hour rule means that as long as someone only consumes 1¼ ounces of hard liquor, one beer, or one glass of wine and no more over the course of an hour, then they are safe to drive.
Are you still drunk when hungover?
Why do I still feel drunk the next morning? – Other than the obvious — that you are actually still drunk — feeling drunk the next morning and throughout the day can make it difficult to plan rides home, to lunch, or to buy a cold blue Powerade. Feeling drunk all day can definitely be part of a nasty hangover.
- A new analysis published by the Society for the Study of Addiction found that the cognitive effects of heavy alcohol consumption can persist throughout the entire next day, even when there is next to no alcohol in your system.
- They determined that being hungover can involve impairment of your cognitive functions and interfere with the normal performance of everyday tasks like driving.
So, does being hungover mean you’re still drunk? Not always, but it can produce the same effects — other than the fun, feel-good ones.
Do bigger people have a higher alcohol tolerance?
Physiology of alcohol tolerance – Alcohol dehydrogenase is a dimeric zinc metalloenzyme that catalyzes the reversible oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes Direct alcohol tolerance is largely dependent on body size. Large-bodied people will require more alcohol to reach insobriety than lightly built people.
Thus men, being larger than women on average, will typically have a higher alcohol tolerance. The alcohol tolerance is also connected with activity of alcohol dehydrogenases (a group of enzymes responsible for the breakdown of alcohol) in the liver, and in the bloodstream. High level of alcohol dehydrogenase activity results in fast transformation of ethanol to more toxic acetaldehyde,
Such atypical alcohol dehydrogenase levels are less frequent in alcoholics than in nonalcoholics. Furthermore, among alcoholics, the carriers of this atypical enzyme consume lower ethanol doses, compared to the individuals without the allele, An estimated one out of twenty people have an alcohol flush reaction,
- It is not in any way an indicator for the drunkenness of an individual.
- A mild flushing reaction occurs when the body metabolizes alcohol more quickly into acetaldehyde, a toxic metabolite.
- A more severe flushing reaction occurs when the body metabolizes the acetaldehyde more slowly, generally due to an inactive aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme.
Both of those conditions—faster conversion of alcohol to acetaldehyde and slower removal of acetaldehyde—reduce the risk for excessive drinking and alcohol dependence.
Does milk reduce alcohol?
We are not party poopers, so we won’t say don’t drink. But we are going to give you a few tips to make sure you have fun this New Year ‘s night without waking up with the worst hangover the day after. Who hasn’t gone out and had a little too much liquid cheer? We are all familiar with what happens when you are out drinking and having fun all night and end up with agony the next morning.
- Experts say that preventing a hangover is better than trying to find a cure for it, thus we share some ways you can prevent a hangover — before and during your party and if you haven’t followed any of these, then we share ways to cure a hangover.
- Before the party There are some things you can do to help lessen the effects of getting a hangover.
Eat a hearty meal before you go out drinking. Fatty foods: “Before you go out drinking, it is always safe to consume greasy foods with lots of cheese and butter which acts like an inner lining and helps absorb alcohol,” says physician Dr Vijay Punjabi.
The oils will coat your stomach lining and will slow down the absorption of alcohol. This can help prevent the severity of a hangover. Burnt toast: Having a partially burnt toast before drinking can help you avert a hangover. Carbon acts like a filter in the body which in turn helps absorb alcohol. Drink milk: Having a glass of milk before you start drinking lines your stomach and slows the amount of alcohol absorbed.
This will help your digestive system to cope with alcohol. Acetaldehyde is a toxic chemical that alcohol is converted to in the body and is one of the prime causes of a hangover. Vitamins and anti-oxidants: A couple of multi-vitamins and anti-oxidants before drinking can help prevent a hangover.
- During the party Everyone loves to enjoy their drink without worrying about the next day hangover.
- If you haven’t followed the before-a-party trick, need not panic.
- You can still prevent a hangover while you are drinking.
- Drink slowly: Go slow with your drinks.
- Try and consume no more than one drink per hour to prevent a hangover the following day.
Stay hydrated: Drinking a glass of juice or water in between your drinks for every glass of alcohol consumed will cut down the risk of having a severe hangover. Dr Mukesh Budhwani, says, “Note that hangovers usually occur when your body gets dehydrated.
Thus, keep alternating a glass of water between your drinks.” Keep it light: Having a hangover hugely depends on the type of alcohol you are consuming. Dark-colored drinks like dark rum, red wine and bourbon are the worst options since they contain congeners that contribute to hangovers as compared to light-colored drinks like vodka, white wine and gin.
Avoid caffeine mixtured cocktails: Avoid having cocktails which are mixed with caffeine. It dehydrates your system and adds to the feelings of nausea and woolly head all of which will make your hangover seem worse. After the party If you are amongst those who have missed out on before-a-party and during-a-party prevention, we suggest all you can do to cure your hangover.
- Sleep: An easy way to cure a hangover is to sleep.
- Drink a glass of juice, put a cold washcloth on your forehead, eliminate noises such as TV, music player, keep the room dark and just sleep.
- If you wake up in between, take a vitamin pill and go back to sleep again.
- Eep drinking liquids: Every time you wake up, keep drinking water to keep your body hydrated, since hydration is one of the main causes of a hangover.
Dr Punjabi adds, “The best way to cure a hangover is to be on a liquid diet the next day. Keep sipping on coconut water, fresh lime water or normal water throughout the day.” Replace lost salts: Rehydration sachets which are used to treat diarrhoea speeds recovery from a hangover.
It is because the salt sachets contain small amounts of body salts that replace lost fluids from your body much quicker than water. Mix one sachet before going to bed and do the same after you wake up the next morning. Drink coffee: Coffee relieves the feeling of fatigue associated with a hangover and helps alleviate the headache symptoms.
Painkillers: Aspirin or ibuprofen reduces hangover headache and muscle pain. Be careful when you are taking these pills cause they tend to dehydrate you and does not help in the long run. Take either of them in the morning. Eggs: Dr Budhwani says, “Egg helps get rid of hangover the next morning.” Have an omelette or boiled egg the next morning.
- Eggs contain cysteine which helps break down the acetaldehyde (alcohol) content in the body after a binge drinking session.
- Have potassium rich fruits: Eating fruits which are rich in potassium like bananas can replenish the potassium and lost salts from your body.
- Sport drinks are good sources of potassium too.
“Include fruits which are rich in vitamin C like oranges,” adds Dr Budhwani.
Is 0.05 alcohol bad for liver?
With insignificant amounts of alcohol and fewer calories, it’s clear that drinking alcohol-free beer (up to 0.5% ABV) is better than opting for an alcohol-laden equivalent and great for giving your liver a rest.
How much alcohol is OK for your liver?
Women with a healthy liver should not drink more than 1 alcoholic beverage a day (or 7 drinks in 1 week). Men with a healthy liver should not drink more than 2 drinks a day (or 14 drinks in 1 week).
Can one night of drinking cause liver damage?
Alcoholic fatty liver disease – Drinking a large amount of alcohol, even for just a few days, can lead to a build-up of fats in the liver. This is called alcoholic fatty liver disease, and is the first stage of ARLD. Fatty liver disease rarely causes any symptoms, but it’s an important warning sign that you’re drinking at a harmful level.
Is the liver responsible for the elimination of 95% of alcohol from the body?
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Alcohol and the Human Body 1 Alcohol’s Properties Alcohol is a general term denoting a family of organic chemicals with common properties. Members of this family include ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, and others. This introduction discusses the physical, chemical, and physiological aspects of the most commonly ingested of these – ethanol.
Alcohol (ethanol) is a clear, volatile liquid that burns (oxidizes) easily. It has a slight, characteristic odor and is very soluble in water. Alcohol is an organic compound composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen; its chemical formula is C2H5OH. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant and it is the central nervous system which is the bodily system that is most severely affected by alcohol (see chart below).
The degree to which the central nervous system function is impaired is directly proportional to the concentration of alcohol in the blood.2 When ingested, alcohol passes from the stomach into the small intestine, where it is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed throughout the body. Because it is distributed so quickly and thoroughly the alcohol can affect the central nervous system even in small concentrations.
In low concentrations, alcohol reduces inhibitions. As blood alcohol concentration increases, a person’s response to stimuli decreases markedly, speech becomes slurred, and he or she becomes unsteady and has trouble walking. With very high concentrations – greater than 0.35 grams/100 milliliters of blood (equivalent to 0.35 grams/210 liters of breath ) – a person can become comatose and die.
|BAC (g/100 ml of blood or g/210 l of breath)
|0.01 – 0.05
|Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation
|0.03 – 0.12
|Mild euphoria, sociability, talkitiveness Increased self-confidence; decreased inhibitions Diminution of attention, judgment and control Beginning of sensory-motor impairment Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests
|0.09 – 0.25
|Emotional instability; loss of critical judgment Impairment of perception, memory and comprehension Decreased sensitory response; increased reaction time Reduced visual acuity; peripheral vision and glare recovery Sensory-motor incoordination; impaired balance Drowsiness
|0.18 – 0.30
|Disorientation, mental confusion; dizziness Exaggerated emotional states Disturbances of vision and of perception of color, form, motion and dimensions Increased pain threshold Increased muscular incoordination; staggering gait; slurred speech Apathy, lethargy
|0.25 – 0.40
|General inertia; approaching loss of motor functions Markedly decreased response to stimuli Marked muscular incoordination; inability to stand or walk Vomiting; incontinence Impaired consciousness; sleep or stupor
|0.35 – 0.50
|Complete unconsciousness Depressed or abolished reflexes Subnormal body temperature Incontinence Impairment of circulation and respiration Possible death
|Death from respiratory arrest
Absorption 4 Alcohol is absorbed from all parts of the gastrointestinal tract largely by simple diffusion into the blood. However the small intestine is by far the most efficient region of the gastrointestinal tract for alcohol absorption because of its very large surface area.
In a fasting individual, it is generally agreed that 10% to 20% of a dose of alcohol is absorbed from the stomach (the volume of alcohol affects the absorption) and 75% to 80% is absorbed from the small intestine. Because of this peak blood alcohol concentrations are achieved in fasting people within 0.5 to 2.0 hours, (average 0.75 – 1.35 hours depending upon dose and time of last meal) while non-fasting people exhibit peak alcohol concentrations within 1.0, and in extreme cases up to as much as 4.0 hours (average 1.06 – 2.12 hours).
Distribution Alcohol has a high affinity for water and is therefore found in body tissues and fluids inasmuch as they contain water. Absorbed alcohol is rapidly carried throughout the body in the blood and once absorption of alcohol is complete an equilibrium occurs such that blood at all points in the system contains approximately the same concentration of alcohol.
Elimination The liver is responsible for the elimination – through metabolism – of 95% of ingested alcohol from the body. The remainder of the alcohol is eliminated through excretion of alcohol in breath, urine, sweat, feces, milk and saliva. The body uses several different metabolic pathways in its oxidation of alcohol to acetaldehyde to acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water.
Healthy people metabolize alcohol at a fairly consistent rate. As a rule of thumb, a person will eliminate one average drink or,5 oz (15 ml) of alcohol per hour. Several factors influence this rate. The rate of elimination tends to be higher when the blood alcohol concentration in the body is very high.
Also chronic alcoholics may (depending on liver health) metabolize alcohol at a significantly higher rate than the average. Finally, the body’s ability to metabolize alcohol quickly tend to diminish with age. Body Weight and Body Type In general, the less you weigh the more you will be affected by a given amount of alcohol.
As detailed above, alcohol has a high affinity for water. Basically one’s blood alcohol concentration is a function of the total amount of alcohol in one’s system divided by total body water. So for two individuals with similar body compositions and different weights, the larger individual will achieve lower alcohol concentrations than the smaller one if ingesting the same amount of alcohol.
However, for people of the same weight, a well muscled individual will be less affected than someone with a higher percentage of fat since fatty tissue does not contain very much water and will not absorb very much alcohol. Rate Of Consumption Blood alcohol concentration depends on the amount of alcohol consumed and the rate at which the user’s body metabolizes alcohol.
Because the body metabolizes alcohol at a fairly constant rate (somewhat more quickly at higher and lower alcohol concentrations), ingesting alcohol at a rate higher than the rate of elimination results in a cumulative effect and an increasing blood alcohol concentration.
|1.15 oz. (34 ml)
|1.00 oz. (30 ml)
|Malt liquor -12 oz. (355 ml)
|0.71 oz. (21 ml)
|0.70 oz. (21 ml)
|0.60 oz. (18 ml)
|Table Wine – 5 oz. (148 ml)
|0.55 oz. (16 ml)
|Beer – 12 oz. (355 ml)
|0.54 oz. (16 ml)
|Reduced Alcohol Beer
|0.28 oz. (8 ml)
Mixed drinks are based on typical drink recipes using 80 proof liquor, The amount of alcohol in actual mixed drinks may vary. Alcohol Content (in Percent) of Selected Beverages 6
|Alcohol Content (%)
|3.2 – 4.0
|6.0 – 8.0
|3.2 – 7.0
|14.0 – 16.0
|7.1 – 14.0
|8.0 – 14.0
|14.0 – 24.0
|15.5 – 20.0
|40.0 – 43.0
|40.0 – 75.0
|40.0 – 50.0
|40.0 – 48.5
|40.0 – 95.0
|35.0 – 45.0
|45.0 – 50.5
The concentration of the drinks that one ingest can have a slight effect on the peak alcohol concentration due to the differences in absorption rate of different concentrations of alcohol. Alcohol is most rapidly absorbed when the concentration of the drink is between 10% and 30%.
- Below 10% the concentration gradient in the gastrointestinal tract is low and slows absorption and the added volumes of liquid involved slow gastric emptying.
- On the other hand concentrations higher than 30% tend to irritate the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract and the pyloric sphincter, causing increased secretion of mucous and delayed gastric emptying.
Food Food taken along with alcohol results in a lower, delayed blood alcohol concentration peak (the point of greatest intoxication). There are two major factors involved in this phenomenon. First, because alcohol is absorbed most efficiently in the small intestine, the ingestion of food can slow down the absorption of alcohol into one’s system.
The pyloric valve at the bottom of the stomach will close in order to hold food in the stomach for digestion and thus keep the alcohol from reaching the small intestine. While alcohol will be absorbed from the stomach it is a slower and less efficient transition. Second and equally important is the fact that alcohol elimination rates are inversely proportional to alcohol concentration in the blood.
Therefore the suppressed levels of alcohol due to food ingestion cause the body to eliminate the alcohol that is absorbed at a faster rate. The type of food ingested (carbohydrate, fat, protein) has not been shown to have a measurable influence on this affect but the larger the meal and closer in time between eating and drinking, the greater the diminution of peak alcohol concentration.
- Studies have shown reductions in peak alcohol concentration (as opposed to those of a fasting individual under otherwise similar circumstances) of 9% to 23%.
- Medication If you are taking any medication, it could increase the effects of alcohol.
- You should always consult your physician or the medical information that accompanies the medication when drinking alcohol in conjunction with any medication.
Fatigue Fatigue causes many of the same symptoms that are caused by alcohol intoxication. These and other symptoms will be amplified if alcohol intoxication is concurrent with fatigue. Tolerance Tolerance is the diminution of the effectiveness of a drug after a period of prolonged or heavy use of that drug or a related drug (cross-tolerance).
There are at least two types of tolerance at work with alcohol. The first is metabolic tolerance in which the alcohol is metabolized at a higher rate (up to two times as quickly) in chronic users. Because of the higher metabolic rate for alcohol lower peak blood alcohol concentrations are achieved by chronic alcohol users than the average drinker when the same amount of alcohol is ingested.
The second is functional tolerance in which there is an actual change in the organ or system’s sensitivity to the drug. Studies have shown that chronic alcohol users can have twice the tolerance for alcohol as an average person. It is important to note however that even in light of these tolerance factors, it has been shown conclusively that even in heavy alcohol users functional impairment is clearly measurable at the blood alcohol concentration levels that are currently used for traffic law enforcement and safety sensitive job performance.
- Gender Differences As outlined above in the section on Body Weight and Body Type different body types coincide with different body water percentages.
- In general, but by no means in all cases, women tend to have a higher percentage of body fat and thus a lower percentage of body water.
- Therefore, in general, if a man and a woman of the same weight ingest the same amount of alcohol the woman will tend to achieve a higher alcohol concentration.
This, of course, would not be true if the woman was very fit and the man was somewhat obese, but on average, this is the case. Furthermore, total body water tends to decrease with age, so an older person will also be more affected by the same amount of alcohol.
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Another gender based difference is in the elimination of alcohol. Although not explained, studies appear to show that women eliminate alcohol from their bodies at a rate 10% greater than that of men. For information on Intoximeters, click About Intoximeters,
Where is 95% of alcohol metabolized in the body?
Stage 1: Ethanol to acetaldehyde – Although some alcohol is metabolized in the stomach, the primary site of metabolism is in the liver. The cytoplasm of liver cells contain an enzyme called (ADH) that catalyzes the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde (Figure 1.11).
- The oxidation occurs when ethanol binds to a site on the ADH enzyme and loses some electrons in the form of H atoms.
- Actually ethanol gives up 2 H atoms to another molecule that also binds to ADH.
- In this case, the recipient molecule of the electrons is called a coenzyme.
- Without the coenzyme, the ADH enzyme won’t work very well.
The liver is the primary site of oxidation of alcohol, some alcohol is oxidized the in the stomach, too. The primary metabolite of ethanol oxidation, is acetaldehyde. This compound is relatively toxic, and it is responsible for alcohol-related facial flushing, headaches, nausea, and increased heart rate. Figure 1.11 Ethanol is oxidized by ADH to acetaldehyde in the cytoplasm, and then the acetaldehyde is oxidized by ALDH in the mitochondria to acetic acid.