ALCOHOL AND THE HUMAN BODY

Introduction:  In our day to day life we tend to take in many stuff in our bodies some of which are helpful and others are harmful.  Whether intentional or accidentally taken, every chemical that we consume in our bodies has limits with in which it will be either useful or harmful and today, let us look at the comings and goings of alcohol in the human body and the effects both short term and long term of it's consumption.

Ethyl alcohol or simply alcohol has few clinical uses when given systemically, but is of great medical importance because of its pathological and psychological effects when used as a beverage in beers, wines, vodkas and other local and international alcoholic beverages.  Seasonal consumers of alcohol have some benefit from it and these are some of the few here; It is a sedative but not a perfect sedative-hypnotic.  I have discussed much about sedation and hypnosis and if you would like to read more about Sedative-hypnotics click here.  Alcohol in small quantities is capable of causing depressant states but it is not a perfect depressant.  So for that respect, many people tend to take it when they feel hyperactive to gain some feeling of depression especially following extraneous activities that require mental hassling.  Following ingestion of alcohol, there may be some feeling of pain killing or relief in some painful situations but it is not a perfect analgesic or what people literally call "pain killer" and it is never in any way intended for that purpose.  

Alcohol is one of the most important drug of dependence and abuse, and in many countries, the incidence of alcoholism is about 10% among the adult population.

Pharmacokinetics:  Ethyl alcohol is absorbed from the buccal, oesophageal, gastric and intestinal mucosae, and approximately 80% is absorbed from the small intestines.  In fact this makes it one of the most easily absorbable compounds when taken orally, and one of the drugs that can achieve maximum bioavailability in a short period of time.  I have discussed about the term bioavailability in relation to drug absorption and distribution recently and if you would like to read about that, you can click here. 

Alcohol delays gastric emptying and in high doses delays its own absorption. Following oral administration, alcohol can usually be detected in the blood within five minutes.  Alcohol is capable of crossing the placenta and the fetus can be exposed to it following drinking for pregnant mothers.  The effects of alcohol is so intense in pregnancy that when a mother drinks, the fetus will have almost the same concentration of alcohol in it's blood as that of the mother's blood per in mg/dl.  This is indicative of the degree with which it crosses the placenta compared to other compounds, and an alert on the possible initiation and development of teratogens or fetal malformations.

Peak concentrations occur between 30 minutes and two hours and during this period, the quantity taken and the amount reaching the body systems will be following a first order kinetics fashion. It should be noted that, Fats and carbohydrates delay absorption and therefore may affect. Alcohol is distributed throughout the body water. About 95% is metabolized mainly in the liver and the remainder is excreted unchanged in the breath, urine and sweat.

Effects of alcohol:  Alcohol has several effects on the different body systems as follows;

Nervous system: Alcohol decreases concentration, judgement, discrimination, and reasoning and increases self-confidence. Progressively increasing plasma concentrations are associated with sensations of relaxation followed by mild euphoria, incoordination, ataxia and loss of consciousness. 

At high blood concentrations, the gag reflex is impaired, vomiting may occur and death may result from aspiration of gastric contents. The importance of alcohol as a factor in road traffic accidents is well known. 

The central depressant actions of alcohol greatly enhance the effects of other central depressant drugs. In patients with organic brain damage, alcohol may induce unusual aggression and destructiveness, known as pathological intoxication.

Medical uses of alcohol:  Alcohol may seem to be a universal poison because of it's hazardous effects on the human body when consumed in large quantities and for a long time however, there times when it can be used as a medicine.  Alcohol is used topically as an antiseptic and many antiseptic solutions have some alcoholic component in them. In fact the smell of alcohol can be detected by exposed individual on use of sanitizing solutions.  Systemic alcohol is used in poisoning by methanol or ethylene glycol, since it competes with these for oxidation by alcohol dehydrogenase, slowing the production of toxic metabolites such as formaldehyde, oxalic acid.  We shall late be discussing the toxicities that result form alcohols including methanol in a separate discussion.

Conclusion:  Health experts say that is good to have some sort of alcoholic beverage in a day with a daily recommendation of 2 bottles of bear for men and 1 bottle for women.  The recommendation however may be different depending on the region and someone's health status.  Small quantities of alcohol are shown to increase the efficiency and normal functioning of the cardiovascular system and Gastrointestinal tract.  The problem however comes that once taken, alcohol tends to make an individual develop tolerance and dependance to it.  Increasing intake of large quantities of alcohol is associated with Nervous system, Cardiovascular and GIT related medical conditions as seen above. 

RELATED;

1.  ADDICTION, TOLERANCE AND DEPENDENCY

2.  ALCOHOL BREAKDOWN BY THE LIVER

3.  FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER

4.  ALCOHOL LIVER FAILURE

5.  ALTERED LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS

6.  SEDATIVES AND HYPNOTICS

7.  CENTRALLY ACTING DRUGS

8.  BIOAVAILABILITY

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