DJ went to his best friend’s bachelor party where he chugged up six shots of vodka in no time and starts matching his vibe with the party. After the steady consumption of vodka, there is a sudden increase in diuresis, confusion, a feel of nausea, low body temperature, loss of consciousness and dilation of pupil. These effects are the result of alcohol metabolism and its ill effects in our body. After a while, DJ went to washroom, vomit out, and felt better.
The vodka is fermented starch of potatoes and other grains the fermentation results in production of ethanol the main ingredient of vodka and other hard drinks.
Ethanol seeps into intestine in a very short period where it is absorbed in the bloodstream. The blood takes some of ethanol to the liver where it catalysed into acetaldehyde (ACD) by alcohol dehydrogenase present in hepatocytes and some amount of ACD further oxidized to acetate. Ethanol, acetaldehyde and acetate all three can cross the blood brain barrier so they directly target the CNS. One of the studies by Philips and Jhamandas 1970 showed that ethanol present in blood circulation inhibits the secretion of acetylcholine from adrenal cortex due to which numbness feel arises after alcohol consumption. Acetylcholine (ACh) is a chief cholinergic neurotransmitter shows its main function at neuromuscular junction where it excites the muscles to contract and plays a major role in transmission of nerve signal from one nerve to another.
Ethanol inhibits voltage-gated ion channels (Harris and Hood 1980), voltage – gated ion channels are transmembrane protein, which allows the movement of ions like Na+, K+, Ca2+ etc. regulated by membrane potential and Davidoff, 1973 found that ethanol enhanced neurotransmission using the neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the spinal cord. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, which decreases activity in our nervous system due to which the state of confusion arises. The acetaldehyde depress the locomotor activity and impairment of spatial memory (Myers et al., 1987) and Davis and Walsh 1970; Yamanaka et al. 1970 hypothesised that ACD condenses with biological amines like dopamine, epinephrine etc. to produce salsolinol (SAL) a psychoactive alkaloid. The effect of acetate mediated by adenosine. Acetate shows anaesthetic effects and impairs locomotor functions.
Therefore, the alcohol consumption directly affects our nervous system due to which state of confusion, impairment in speech and locomotor activities, loss of consciousness occurs.
Alcohol induces hypertension as it diminishes the baro reflex by affecting the baro-receptors present in the brain stem and activates sympathetic nervous system, which in turn secretes sympathetic amines results in hypertension by affecting the autonomic nervous system. Alcohol also increases the Ca2+ levels in blood, secretion of cortisol from adrenal glands and affect renin – angiotensin – aldosterone system, is a hormone system that regulates blood pressure and fluid and electrolyte balance, as well as systemic vascular resistance.
Ethanol affects the hypothalamus and inhibits the production of ADH (anti diuretic hormone) due to which water retention capacity in body is reduced and the drunk person visits the loo frequently and sometime excess drinking also leads to dehydration.
The medulla contains chemoreceptor zone and vomiting zone the presence of intoxicant like ethanol in our body leads to triggering of the chemoreceptor centre, which in turn stimulates the vomiting centre. Vomiting centre initiates and control the act of emesis or vomit, which involves the series of contraction of smooth muscle lining of digestive tract, which begins from the intestine and move successively to stomach and oesophagus until the stomach contents are forced out. This triggering helps the body to eliminate the intoxicant from the body.
Once the ethanol and its derivatives’ amount lowers down in the body there effect on the CNS and other body parts comes to halt and body comes to its normal form. But in the case of regular or heavy drinkers these affects doesn’t gets diminished, in there body new complications arises like weaker immune system due to which they are susceptible to broad spectrum of diseases, high blood pressure, cancer, uncoordinated locomotory movements, loss in memory powers, liver cirrhosis, hepatic cancer etc. and even the alcohol addiction can costs us our relationships and career.
That's so interesting 💯
Wonderful 😊