Effects of Alcohol on the Human Body

Have you ever roamed on the streets of your city adjoining bars and pubs after Saturday late night party? If ‘Yes’, then you would have come across a few people stumbling, not able to talk properly, claiming the world around them is spinning! You simply ignore their claims thinking they are "little drunk". So, what exactly happen to these people when they consume the drinks or alcohol? It may be little more dangerous and complicated than perhaps we think of…

Alcohol
Although, the nomenclature ‘Alcohol’ denotes the entire family of organic compounds like methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, in more general terms we denote ‘Ethanol’ when we discuss alcohol, the most commonly ingested of these chemicals.

Alcohol, Ethanol (C2H5OH) in specific, is an organic compound made up of molecules of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen. It is highly volatile liquid with distinct odor having great affinity towards water. In fact, its high solubility in water makes it one of the most potent depressant of human central nervous system. It is a powerful hypnotic sedative with an array of side effects. The amount to which extent the central nervous system is affected depends upon the concentration of alcohol in blood, usually denoted by BAC (Blood Alcohol Content).

Effects at Initial Stages
When ingested, the effects of Alcohol on human body changes gradually over the time. At initial stages, person feels more relaxed and cheerful which is followed by more stumbling movements and animated speech. They become more confident, shying off their inhibitions. This happens because of the increased metabolism in nigrostriatal pathway of brain which is associated with body movements. While, increased alpha waves from brain makes person more cheerful, relaxed; stimulation by alcohol to cortex, hippocampus of brain helps to shed off inhibitions. This stage is often termed as Euphoria where BAC is around 0.03 to 0.12%.

Absorption and Distribution Mechanism
When consumed, alcohol first irritates the mucous lining of mouth and then esophagus causing an anesthetic effect. Then it goes to stomach where only 20% of the total quantity is absorbed by it. Rest 80% is then absorbed by small intestine from where it gets distributed throughout the human body. Alcohol travels through blood and come into the vicinity of cells of almost every organ. As mentioned earlier, due to its high affinity towards water, it can penetrate almost all cellular membranes resulting in absorption by all organs.

Metabolism and its effects
Alcohol dehydrogenase, the enzyme secreted by hepatic cells converts alcohol to acetaldehyde. This acetaldehyde further gets converted into acetic acid and then acetate by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Acetate is a compound of fats which gets deposited locally. Because of the chronic and continuous consumption of alcohol, the increase in fatty acid levels results in forming of plaque in the hepatic capillaries. This situation leads to Liver Cirrhosis. As liver performs vital role in filtration mechanism of body, malfunctioning of liver often leads to jaundice (Hepatitis). As alcohol enhances antidiuretic hormone secretion, more urine is formed which results in Dehydration.

Carcinogenic Effects
Alcohol comes under Group1 carcinogens as classified by WHO. Although, previous studies have failed to establish direct connection between alcohol and its effect on cancer, there is strong indication to suggest that alcohol enhances the effects of other carcinogenic chemicals like tobacco. Acetaldehyde, the byproduct of metabolism of alcohol, if gets concentrated in high amounts then it can damage the DNA of cells. Their reaction with polyamines can end up in forming Mutagenic DNA. The excessive consumption of ethanol also makes mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus more prone to cancer.

General Effects on Human Body
There are different effects of alcohol on human body subject to their concentrations in blood. They are generally classified as follows-
1. When BAC count ranging from 0.09 to 0.23% is present, the condition is known as Lethargy. In this condition, people become sleepy, their movements lose coordination, start loosing their body balance. It is also characterized by blurred vision.
2. When BAC count ranging from 0.17 to 0.28% is present, the condition is known as Confusion. It is characterized by aggravated emotional state where people try to be sentimental, overly aggressive. They are not certain of what they are doing. Dizziness continues. Nausea is the common symptom of this phase.
3. When BAC count ranging from 0.25 to 0.39% is present, the condition is known as Stupor. In this stage, body movements are severely affected and patients lose and regain consciousness intermittently. They have high risk of coma or even death.
4. When BAC count ranging from 0.35 to 0.50% is present, the condition is known as Coma. It is characterized by unconsciousness when body reflexes are low, breathing rate declines resulting in dropping of heart beat rate.
5. When BAC crosses the mark of 0.5%, it results in failure of CNS (Central Nervous System) ultimately resulting in Death.

Alcoholism is a major public health problem. While consumption of alcohol develops an array of diseases, its withdrawal also develops symptoms like delirium tremens which has high percentage of mortality rate (35%), if not treated. During Pregnancy, alcohol consumption can lead fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.