Alcohol And The Central Nervous System

Alcohol And The Central Nervous System

Alcohol, like many other drugs, is dose dependent, readily absorbed, and widely distributed. As a result, alcohol affects many organ systems of the body, including the central nervous system (CNS). Alcohol is easily absorbed, is soluble across all biological membranes, and does not bind to any plasma proteins. There is no place in our bodies where alcohol cannot reach. Alcohol absorption occurs between 80–90 minutes, and is affected by whether or not someone has eaten, as this will affect the speed at which the alcohol enters the blood stream. Alcohol is metabolized similarly to food. Approximately 85% of ingested alcohol is metabolized by the liver, 5–10% is metabolized in the stomach, and approximately 5% is excreted, unchanged, through sweat and the lungs. Men metabolize alcohol faster than women. This is due to the fact that women have 50% less enzymes in the stomach that metabolize alcohol than men, and the fact that women have more body fat than men. The blood supply to fat is much less than that found in muscles. Therefore, alcohol does not get metabolized as quickly in individuals with a higher fat content. When alcohol is metabolized, acetaldehyde, a poisonous byproduct, is formed. Alcohol dehydrogenase breaks down alcohol into acetaldehyde. Acetaldehyde dehydrogenase further breaks down the poisonous acetaldehyde into acetic acid. Some ethnicities, such as some Asian groups, have less active acetaldehyde dehydrogenase leading to a buildup of

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