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Ethiopian Reporter - English Version

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Alcohol and its effects Print E-mail
Saturday, 21 June 2008

If you have ever seen a person who has had too much to drink, you know that alcohol is a drug that has widespread effects on the body, and the effects vary from person to person. People who drink might be the "life of the party" or they might become sad and droopy. Their speech may slur and they may have trouble walking. It all depends on the amount of alcohol consumed, a person's history with alcohol and a person's personality.

 

You will not find pure alcohol in most drinks; drinking pure alcohol can be deadly because it only takes a few ounces of pure alcohol to quickly raise the blood alcohol level into the danger zone. For various types of beverages, the ethanol concentration (by volume) is as follows:

    * Beer = 4 to 6 percent (average of about 4.5 percent)
    * Wine = 7 to 15 percent (average of about 11 percent)
    * Champagne = 8 to 14 percent (average of about 12 percent)
    * Distilled spirits (e.g. rum, gin, vodka, whiskey) = 40 to 95 percent

When you compare men and women of the same height, weight and build, men tend to have more muscle and less fat than women. Because muscle tissue has more water than fat tissue, a given dose or amount of alcohol will be diluted more in a man than in a woman. Therefore, the blood alcohol concentration resulting from that dose will be higher in a woman than in a man, and the woman will feel the effects of that dose of alcohol sooner than the man will.
When a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, about 20 percent of the alcohol is absorbed in the stomach and about 80 percent is absorbed in the small intestine. How fast the alcohol is absorbed depends upon several things:

    * The concentration of alcohol in the beverage - The greater the concentration, the faster the absorption.
    * The type of drink - Carbonated beverages tend to speed up the absorption of alcohol.
    * Whether the stomach is full or empty - Food slows down alcohol absorption.

After absorption, the alcohol enters the bloodstream and dissolves in the water of the blood. The blood carries the alcohol throughout the body. The alcohol from the blood then enters and dissolves in the water inside each tissue of the body (except fat tissue, as alcohol cannot dissolve in fat). Once inside the tissues, alcohol exerts its effects on the body. The observed effects depend directly on the blood alcohol concentration (BAC), which is related to the amount of alcohol consumed. The BAC can rise significantly within 20 minutes after having a drink.

Once absorbed by the bloodstream, the alcohol leaves the body in three ways:

    * The kidney eliminates 5 percent of alcohol in the urine.
    * The lungs exhale 5 percent of alcohol, which can be detected by breathalyzer devices.
    * The liver chemically breaks down the remaining alcohol into acetic acid.

As a rule of thumb, an average person can eliminate 15 ml of alcohol per hour. So, it would take approximately one hour to eliminate the alcohol from a 355 ml of beer.

If you have seen someone who has had too much to drink, you've probably noticed definite changes in that person's performance and behavior. The body responds to alcohol in stages, which correspond to an increase in BAC:

   1. Euphoria (BAC = 0.03 to 0.12 percent)
          * They become more self-confident or daring.
          * Their attention span shortens.
          * They may look flushed.
          * Their judgement is not as good -- they may say the first thought that comes to mind, rather than an appropriate comment for the given situation.
          * They have trouble with fine movements, such as writing or signing their name.

   2. Excitement (BAC = 0.09 to 0.25 percent)
          * They become sleepy.
          * They have trouble understanding or remembering things (even recent events).
          * They do not react to situations as quickly (if they spill a drink they may just stare at it).
          * Their body movements are uncoordinated.
          * They begin to lose their balance easily.
          * Their vision becomes blurry.
          * They may have trouble sensing things (hearing, tasting, feeling, etc.).

   3. Confusion (BAC = 0.18 to 0.30 percent)
          * They are confused -- might not know where they are or what they are doing.
          * They are dizzy and may stagger.
          * They may be highly emotional -- aggressive, withdrawn or overly affectionate.
          * They cannot see clearly.
          * They are sleepy.
          * They have slurred speech.
          * They have uncoordinated movements (trouble catching an object thrown to them).
          * They may not feel pain as readily as a sober person.

   4. Stupor (BAC = 0.25 to 0.4 percent)
          * They can barely move at all.
          * They cannot respond to stimuli.
          * They cannot stand or walk.
          * They may vomit.
          * They may lapse in and out of consciousness.

   5. Coma (BAC = 0.35 to 0.50 percent)
          * They are unconscious.
          * Their reflexes are depressed (i.e. their pupils do not respond appropriately to changes in light).
          * They feel cool (lower-than-normal body temperature).
          * Their breathing is slower and more shallow.
          * Their heart rate may slow.
          * They may die.

   6. Death (BAC more than 0.50 percent) - The person usually stops breathing and dies.

(Contributed by Dr. Dagmawi Tewolde)
 
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