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Booze - How It Affect Body

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WildCat

Post subject: Booze - How It Affect Body

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 17:50

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Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 23:28
Posts: 1940

Posted on PH SP&L as well... It crop up in a thread.. Longest story. Guy got pinged taking wife to hospital after she trip on stairs. She had had 3 beers spread over 5 hours - thus was not drunk in real terms und drink was not factor.. she slipped on rug at bottom of stairs .. wooden - laminate floor... :yikes:

Not caused by drink.. just unfortunate she landed awkardly.

Anyway - topic of how booze does affect we wimmi differently than men crop up... und think ist worth posting up how it affecte EVERYONE
again.. :wink:

But just to clarify how alcohol affect wimmin differently to men - you have to remember size /metabolism also affect.. Ist quite possible for large lady to be able to cope with booze better than weedy little man :wink:

We wimmin have more body fat

(Ist always a wonder why we feel cold more...

)

but we have less water in body than you blokes as well. Thus our booze does not get diluted as quickly in our bodies as it does in a male body. If you are same weight as a man und drink same amount of booze .. generally .. und this ist GENERAL based on stats to work out the average .. but we end up with one third more alcohol in blood und we take a third longer to explete from system. ...

Now .. this ist also interesting ... I confess I love chocolate - tried to give it up for Lent..und Mad Doc did bet me I could not do it.. I lost.. I have to be his complete slave at his beck und call for a week now ... :oops:

But I tend to eat und crave even more choc when approaching the monthly blues. :wink:

Relevance?

Some wimmin tend to drink more alcohol as a way of coping with the symptoms - und feel the symptoms more strongly than they would otherwise :roll:

Yes - I know ... foolish.. but it happens..
:roll:

BUT let's just look at the alcohol's journey through your system...

We all have enzyme in tum which ist desgned to process the ethanol (alcohol' harmful toxin) into safe substance ( enzyme ist "alcohol dehydrogenase")

When we drink ... 20% of the booze ist absorbed into stomach und 80% into small gut.

Still under research ist why the male enzyme ist more effective than the one in the female - und we also have another problem .. as we age - enzyme reduces in efficiency.. ist why older people find they cannot tolerate wines as they used to once.. :roll:

Longer the enzyme has to work on the ethanol - the better.

Why we continentals always eat when we drink.. :wink:

You NEVER drink on empty :nono:

.

. ist how the 20% booze go through stomach wall into blood system. und if you eat you stop the booze entering small intestine where it also permeate on empty into blood. Thus if you drink on empty almost all the alcohol content of your drink enter your blood stream very quickly .. you feel effects more quickly too.

Bigger you are - the more blood in body und the male ist 66% fluid compared to women's 55% average.

The alcohol circulates in your bloodstream - und this ist how it get to brain - it travel through every organ - coursing around after being pumped und churned up by heart (which ist also more rapid as result of the booze).

Ist a stimulant und depressant drug. at same time ..(ist an usual one in this respect) ..it revs you up by closing down some cerebral circuits (since not lecturing undergaduates at moment - shall leave out the nitty gritty ) But basically it jazzes up the eletrical activity in your brain - und act like amphetamine by creating feeling of pleasure und euphoria .. ist why you are giggly. :wink:

It also target the circuits which Valium would target .. calms, but causes anxiety und ist a braking pedal on the euphoria..
:wink:

but trouble with filling on empty :roll:

- you get the euprhoria fast und the angst washing over even faster thereafte as brain cannot cope with this onslaught on its circuits at one und same time.

It also affect the serotonin in brain .. this ist the substance our body creates which connects neurons in brain und thus affects our nervous system.. why we may not feel bruising selves if severely drunk..

But ist all short lived - drinking more than a couple of drinks wrecks the short gains ... affects the chemical messages in brain (aforementioned serotonin) - und it result in the clumsiness, slurred speed, double vision, memory.. learning outcomes...

Liver ist where body finally breaks down the alcohol - but again the liver's processing ist also creating bio chemicals which will affect brain as the blood circulates und flows through the organ - acetaldehyde... istthe toxin which causes the drink induced vomit, nausea, headache, heartburn, hangover..

Working at full speed - healthy man's liver will take one hour to process one drink und a woman's longer by ca 20 minutes more. It metabolises the booze by breaking down the alcohol .. 90% goes through liver.. the remainder in our pee und BREATH :wink:

Liver needs water to get rid of the alcohol - which is also a diuretic .. so liver asks brain to send it water und draws water from rest of body - which ist how you end up drinking more as you feel thirsty .. feeling thirsty ..bad sign.. drink coffee - NOT fizzy water nor gallons of still water :roll:

Und ist if you drink faster than liver than cope - that ist why you feel drunk. :roll:

At consumption of 3 pints spread out over over 5 hours .. woman would thus not be drunk.. given a 330 ml can of beer or 100ml glass of wine or 30 ml neat spirit contain about 200 g alcohol. At most she would have had 10 g at time of accident.

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WildCat

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 18:01

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Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 23:28
Posts: 1940

So how much ist "safe?"

If I plan to drive or ride motrobike or cycle .. then I tend not to.. und when pregnant or breastfeeding .. NEVER :nono:

Limits are based on a measurement called the 'standard
drink'. Each standard drink contains 10 grams of alcohol.

330 ml can of beer/100ml wine 30 ml neat spirit ist normally 10g alcohol per guidelines

In any one week, drink no more than
- 21 standard drinks (for men)
- 14 standard drinks (for women)

On any one drinking occasion drink no more than
- six standard drinks (for men)
- four standard drinks (for women)

When drinking alcohol eat some food as well.

Remember

These are general guidelines. Even if you drink less than these limits, your drinking will not be safe in all situations.

There are some people who should not consume alcohol, or limit their use to less than these guideline amounts

During pregnancy - the risk of birth defects is greater if pregnant women drink, especially in the first eight to twelve weeks of pregnancy. During pregnancy, it is better not to drink any alcohol at all;

Thin people - those below average body weight (60kg for men, 50kg for women;

Young people;

Older people because their bodies are less able to handle the effects of alcohol;

People with a strong family history of alcoholism;
People who are or have been dependent on other drugs;
People who have a poor diet, or are under-nourished.

ist nothing wrong with drink - so long as sensible und moderate..

People in UK somehow seem very immature to me in attitude to booze.. :roll:

Last edited by WildCat on Sun Apr 09, 2006 18:06, edited 1 time in total.

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WildCat

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 18:05

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Joined: Sat Aug 13, 2005 23:28
Posts: 1940

shall also post up this .. ist from some research archives we have

=========================================

Quote:

The effects of alcohol hit your brain like a tidal wave. And you can go from jovial, to falling-down drunk, to dead ?and it doesn't take very long to get there.

First it suppresses the frontal lobes, then it goes to the back of your brain, and then to the parts deep in the centre. Dr Izak Loftus, forensic and anatomical pathologist from the Pathcare-Group explains.
Alcohol is a suppressant. It is called this, because it suppresses the normal functions of your brain.

This suppressing effect on the brain is almost like a wave crashing over your head. First it suppresses the frontal lobes, then it washes further backwards over the parietal lobes, then to the parietal lobes, the occipital lobes right at the back, then deeper into the brain to the cerebellum and lastly to the diencephalon and the mesencephalon (midbrain), and then down to the brainstem and the medulla oblongata.

This process is continuous, but certain functions, for example peripheral vision, may already be affected at an earlier stage.

First effect: the jovial phase

The frontal lobes house the functions that control, among other things, your inhibitions, self-control, willpower, ability to judge and attention span.

Suppress it, and your self-confidence increases, you start getting jovial, you become more and more generous, and start talking more. This is why alcohol is seen as a good social lubricant.

This effect can already be detected with blood alcohol levels as low as 0,01g/100ml - in other words, while you are within the legal limit of 0,05g/100ml.

The problem is that even at this level, which is perfectly legal, your loss of judgement ability and your changed personality already increase your risk of dying an unnatural death, for example as a result of being in a fight.

Maybe you are better able to control yourself and your behaviour in this phase as a result of good self-control, or education, and the onslaught of the alcohol might pass by relatively unobtrusively. Maybe not.

Second effect: the slurring phase

The next parts of the brain that come into the firing line, the parietal lobes
are affected at a blood alcohol level of approximately 0,10 g/100ml.

Then your motor skills become impaired, you have difficulty speaking, you speak in slurred fashion (which oddly enough, you cannot hear yourself), you start shivering, and complicated actions become very difficult to execute (I always used to watched alleged drunk drivers trying to fasten their shirt buttons ?an everyday activity that suddenly becomes as difficult as threading a needle). At the same time your sensory abilities are hampered.

Third effect: the can't-see-properly phase

If the occipital lobe is reached, the alcohol level is usually about 0,20 g/100ml.
Your visual perception ability becomes limited. You have increasing difficulty to perceive movement and distance. Your depth perception becomes impaired and your peripheral vision decreases. If you now drive at dusk, you will have great difficulty seeing the little boy running after his ball, or your fellow drinking buddy, staggering by the roadside.

Fourth effect: the falling-down phase
At about the alcohol level of 0,15 g/100ml the cerebellum becomes affected and keeping your balance could become difficult.
With a bit of luck, your friends would by this time have lain you on the ground somewhere safe.

Fifth effect: the down-and-out phase
We hope you are lying down in a safe place, because at this stage the wave is crashing at 0,25 g/100ml over your diencephalon and the mesencephalon (midbrain).

You become tired and very unsteady ?you are now probably out for the count.

You start shaking and you vomit. Maybe your reflexes will not be so badly suppressed that you cannot protect your airways, otherwise you could inhale your own vomit and die. Your consciousness is now suppressed, and you may be comatose.

Sixth effect: in the valley of the shadow of death
Should the alcohol wave wash further, driven by a blood alcohol level of 0,35 tot 0,40 g/100ml, and it reaches your brain stem, including the medulla oblongata, you have life-threatening problems. The centres controlling your breathing and your blood circulation are suppressed, and you are busy dying.

The chronic drinker

These effects refer to the social drinker. Chronic abuse of alcohol will increase someone's tolerance, and would therefore cause these effects to become visible only when a chronic drinker has reached much higher levels of alcohol in the blood than those mentioned above.
Usually the person would appear to be less under the influence at a specific blood alcohol concentration (BAC), when the BAC is busy dropping, than when it is busy increasing. This is called the Mellanby effect, and is the result of the development of acute tolerance in the brain with regards to alcohol.

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T2006

Post subject:

Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2006 22:10

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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 23:17
Posts: 499

As far as weekly limits are concerned: they no longer exist.

There are two different limits; one from the department of health: 4 units per day for men, 3 for women. One from the british medical association: 4 units per day for men, 3 units per day for women with at least 2 alcohol free days per week.

Conclusions if added up over the week:

DOH: 28m/21f per week

BMA: 21m/14f per week

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pogo

Post subject:

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 15:39

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Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2005 14:00
Posts: 1271
Location: Near Telford, UK / Barcelona, Spain

T2006 wrote:

Conclusions if added up over the week:

DOH: 28m/21f per week

BMA: 21m/14f per week

Nah... You're only drinking too much if you drink more than your Doctor. :twisted:

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T2006

Post subject:

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 18:40

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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 23:17
Posts: 499

pogo wrote:

T2006 wrote:

Conclusions if added up over the week:

DOH: 28m/21f per week

BMA: 21m/14f per week

Nah... You're only drinking too much if you drink more than your Doctor. :twisted:

The limits are quite low indeed, 21 units per week equates to 1 single pint of stella or 1664 per day for seven days.

You hardly need to be a "heavy" drinker to go above these limits.

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Gizmo

Post subject:

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 19:17

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Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2004 09:16
Posts: 3655

At what point do ugly women start to look attractive?

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T2006

Post subject:

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 19:56

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Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 23:17
Posts: 499

It takes a good few yards of ale

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Capri2.8i

Post subject:

Posted: Mon Apr 10, 2006 22:08

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Joined: Thu May 19, 2005 22:21
Posts: 925

Nobody is ugly after 2am.

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