Alcohol overuse

[milquetoast1]

I used to be one of those people that would drink no alcohol all week, but then have 14 units on Saturday. I recognised that this was bad for me so decided to spread my drinking throughout the week in a more sensible manner. I now make sure I drink a bottle of wine every day.

[*_ash_*]

You clearly can't read.

I clearly can read.

Keep off the draw..

It's scrambled your eggs.

No illegal 'drugs' here my friend.

 

I can't you see, because despite my ability to choose most things based on my own thoughts, I have to choose none, as I don't want any illegal drug activity on my criminal record.

 

I'd like the [legal] choice personally. As free as we are told that we are here, it is because so many people can only see things in black and white [just how governments like it], that they can then impose silly laws to make people think that they are in control.

 

They [govt] know how stupid people are, and like it that way, and like to keep it that way.

[Bonzo77]

 

 

 

Why..............?

Why give us a titbit of your vast knowledge of illegal drug taking terms.

Tell us how in touch you really are .:roll:.

 

There hasn't been any draw (solid resin) on the market for about 10 years!

Edited June 29, 2010 by medusa
fixed tags

[0742Sheff]

Deaths in 1995 according to the Office of National Statistics -

 

alcohol 4,235

LSD 0

 

and now the statistics for people drinking alcohol compared to those taking LSD is 1995?

[alex3659]

 

There hasn't been any draw (solid resin) on the market for about 10 years!

 

Hmm.

Well your the expert..

Edited June 29, 2010 by medusa
fixed tags

[medusa]

I don"t know how true that is ,if you drink 2 or 3 pints a night your not giving your liver the chance to detox .I don't agree with a 14 pint binge but getting drunk every friday and then having a 6 day fast as surely got to be better for you

 

Your argument about it being less harmful to drink to excess once a week would be fine if the enzyme which removes alcohol from the bloodstream worked at a standard rate, but it doesn't. It works most efficiently at a low concentration of alcohol and once you drink over that concentration it starts slowing down, which is why it's so easy to be over the limit the following morning.

 

If you drink 2 pints a night (which is approximately 4 units of alcohol) then your blood alcohol concentration remains below the concentration at which it starts to retard the action of your alcohol dehydrogenase, allowing your alcohol dehydrogenase to work at its maximal rate for the whole of the process of removing the alcohol from your blood.

 

The maximal rate for alcohol dehydrogenase is approximately 1 unit of alcohol per hour, so that means that 4 units of alcohol will be eliminated from your bloodstream in approximately 4 hours (assuming that the other substrates and cofactors necessary for the enzyme to function are present and that you are healthy, have no liver cirrhosis and plenty of glucose in your system).

 

If, however, you drink 10 units of alcohol then this pushes your blood alcohol concentration well above the maximal rate for alcohol dehydrogenase and that means that your body will only be eliminating 0.2- 0.5 units per hour from your bloodstream. During the time that your body is prioritising removal of alcohol from your body (as it's a poison) it stops other routine functions from working fully because it uses up available substrates, glucose and energy to fight the 'poison', leaving insufficient resources to digest food properly or transport lipids around the body to their normal storage in the adipose tissue.

 

This means that the liver is effectively 'short staffed' during this time and the storage molecules which are normally moved around your body and stored safely elsewhere remain stuck in the cells of the liver and build up to a level where the cells can't function- this is cirrhosis.

 

If there is insufficient time between drinking sessions for the liver to build up resources again and clear this backlog, which can take weeks if you're not looking after yourself in other ways or there's underlying damage to liver function, then the fatty build up remains stuck in the liver even before you start drinking again and that is a slippery slope to looking rather yellow and not being very well at all.

 

Sorry to biochemistry you half to death, but I do know what I'm talking about and if you want the advanced lesson on enzyme kinetics then just ask.

[imamartian]

That's a scary answer medusa... so how do other factors such as coffee affect the liver on top of that... isn't caffeine a poison too?

And how much can the liver 'repair' itself..?

[Cyclone]

I've never heard the bit about ADH becoming less effective at higher blood alcohol levels.

10 units is approx 5 pints and if that reduces you elimination rate to <0.5 unit/hr you'd stay drunk for nearly 20 hours on 5 pints of beer. That doesn't seem to be accurate.

[Bonzo77]

That's a scary answer medusa... so how do other factors such as coffee affect the liver on top of that... isn't caffeine a poison too?

And how much can the liver 'repair' itself..?

 

Anything in excess can cause damage to your body, even water.

[Cyclone]

That's a scary answer medusa... so how do other factors such as coffee affect the liver on top of that... isn't caffeine a poison too?

And how much can the liver 'repair' itself..?

 

The liver is one of the best organs in the body at self repair. It can routinely regenerate after having 2/3rds of it's mass removed!

http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/pathphys/digestion/liver/regen.html

 

Paracetamol uses the same pathways for metabolisation as ethanol, hence why you're advised not to use both together.

I think I read somewhere that one of the few possible treatements for paracetamol overdose (and only if caught in time) is a large dose of ethanol as this slows down the metabolisation of the paracetamol which gives the body time to eliminate the toxic by products.