If you are a university student,
you may remember the thrill of attending homecoming and Halloween.
Parties with your friends or going out for a night
of fun. Of course.
This was before the arrival of a global pandemic.
That disrupted many of our social lives as we know
it, you may recall in your distant memory.
That alcohol was a common denominator at many of these
University gatherings.
In fact,
you may have experienced the effects of alcohol consumption.
So just feeling intoxicated breaking the seal and hang over
well in today's video.
We're going to take a more specific
look at how alcohol exhibits these effects on the body.
So what actually happens when alcohol enters your body?
Let's begin by taking a look at the molecule that
we are actually referencing
when we use the term alcohol.
The active ingredient with an alcoholic beverages that induces
it's effects is known as ethanol.
Ethanol is a small organic compound with the chemical formula
C2H5OH.
So how does ethanol move through the body?
There are
two steps in this process: absorption and distribution.
These processes involve
the passage of a substance from the site of administration
into the bloodstream for delivery to the body's fluids and tissues.
Most absorption of ethanol occurs within the small intestine.
However,
small amounts may be absorbed in the mouth, stomach and
large intestine
as well. The amount of alcohol absorbed contributes to
an individual's blood
alcohol concentration,
also known as the AC,
there are many other factors that affect blood alcohol,
concentration,
including body weight,
gender,
speed of alcohol consumption and whether alcohol is consumed with,
or without food.
Females and individuals with lower body weight,
typically,
develop higher,
blood alcohol
concentrations more quickly because they have less body water.
Additionally drinking on an empty stomach leads to faster absorbtion
and therefore higher blood alcohol concentration.
Eventually, ethanol makes its way into the hepatic portal vein
and reaches the liver, where most alcohol breakdown also known
as metabolism, occurs.
Metabolism is often assisted by enzymes, proteins that
speed up the rate of chemical reactions.
In this case two main enzymes assist with alcohol
metabolism:
ADH, which is alcohol dehydrogenase and ALDH,
which is aldehyde dehydrogenase.
There are three steps involved in alcohol metabolism.
In the first step, ethanol is converted to a molecule
known as aldehyde by the enzyme
alcohol dehydrogenase. Next, the alcohol has converted to a molecule known
as acetate.
Much of this acetate leaves the liver and travels to
other tissues,
where does activated to acetylcholine?
Acetylcholine is a molecule that is produced from all the
major nutrients that are consumed by humans including carbohydrates,
fat,
and excess protein there for the breakdown of alcohol,
eventually produces the same products as the food we eat.
So how is alcohol excreted from the body?
Most of the ethanol,
a person consumes about 95 to 98% is removed from
the body through this process of metabolism, and less than
10% is eliminated by excretion be at the lungs, kidneys
and skin.
Have you ever felt a happy after a few drinks?
This may be due to alcohol causing us to go
a certain way.
Alcohol affect our neurotransmitter and help send messages from our
brain to the rest of our body.
Essentially,
neurotransmitter are synonymous to signals that
the brain uses as communication to the rest of our
body,
one signal.
We will look at today is dopamine.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter
that is regulated by the mesolimbic pathway.
The mesolimbic pathway is a connection in our brain
that generates pleasure and reward.
Dopamine produces a feeling of pleasure
in addition to how we think and prepare. As a result,
alcohol has a tendency to activate the areas that release
dopamine in the human brain leading to higher levels.
However,
it is seen the after a few drinks of alcohol
are brain tends to produce more dopamine than usual.
However,
those that
quit drinking after may suffer withdrawals to feeling happy since
alcohol with your source of dopamine production.
This is due to because alcohol over a
time-span make cause dopamine levels to drop, and lead to
alcohol addiction.
In addition, the drop in dopamine levels after drinking for a while,
is due to alcohol causing our brain to release dopamine
more than it can produce from when
we are intoxicated. Coupled with the other effect that alcohol place
in our body such as hangovers and peeing often,
alcohol has a huge effect on our brain.
All in all, dopamine is a neurotransmitter that affects our
mood and is negatively affected by alcohol
intoxication.
Have you ever noticed extremely long line for the bathroom
at a party, or the increased feeling that you have
to pee when you drink?
Or maybe someone is told you not to break the
seal when drinking?
Will it turn out that there is a biological basis
for increased urination when you drink, and it has nothing
to do with the volume of liquid consumed.
In your body
you have a hormone called antidiuretic hormone or ADH.
ADH, which is also known as vasopressin is made out of
a part of the brain called the hypothalamus and is
stored and released from a structure known as the posterior
pituitary,
which is also located in the brain.
ADH is responsible for maintaining and conserving.
the amount of fluid in the body.
It does this by controlling how much fluid is excreted
in urine. To simplify: ADH
regulates the amount of urine produced by your body.
ADH does this by communicating with the kidneys where urine is
produced. To reabsorb water from the urine. By reabsorbing
water, is retained within the body, preventing dehydration.
Alcohol is a diuretic which means that it inhibits the
secretion of ADH into the blood, and it increases the amount of
fluid excreted.
With less ADH circulating in the blood,
the kidneys are unable to reabsorb water back into the
body. With decreased ADH the urine
that the kidney creates is very diluted.
The body is extruding more water than it should,
and this results in increased urination.
When you drink alcohol,
you are urinating more than you would
if you drink the same value of another fluid like
water.
Increased urination can lead to dehydration.
As the body is not absorbing fluids back into the
blood and tissues.
Have you ever woken up after a night of drinking
with a terrible headache?
Perhaps you have suffered from what people might call a
hangover.
Well,
some symptoms of the dreaded hangover may be caused in
part by the dehydration.
As a result from ADH suppression in the blood symptoms
of dehydration,
include feeling dizzy,
or lightheaded, feeling tired,
headache and nausea.
These are also common symptoms associated with a hangover while
dehydration is not the only factor that can cause unpleasant
feelings.
After a night of drinking,
it can definitely be a major cause if the body
is not rehydrated,
while there is no cure for these symptoms over,
the counter pain relief,
such as ibuprofen or Advil and the intake of a
lot of fluids can help alleviate symptoms from dehydration.
While drinking can be fun,
it is always important to drink in moderation and put
your health first.
if you or anyone,
you know, is struggling from alcohol abuse.
There are ways to get help. Please use any of the
resources here to find help for yourself, a family member
or friend.
We hope you've enjoyed our video about the science behind
drinking alcohol.
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comment.
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on videos about science and medicine.
Cheers.