The Danger: The Effects of Alcohol on the Body

[Done-With-It!]

The Danger: The Effects of Alcohol on the Body

The Danger: The Effects of Alcohol on the Body

Alcohol is a sedative hypnotic. It is a powerful drug available to virtually anyone who wants to try it. Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy describes the effects of alcohol on the body:

• About 20 percent of alcohol is absorbed through stomach, and most of the rest is absorbed through the small intestine. Alcohol molecules are carried through the bloodstream and come into contact with the cells of virtually all the organs. When someone drinks on an empty stomach, the blood absorbs the alcohol rapidly. The body also absorbs higher concentrations of alcohol, such as mixed drinks or shots, very quickly

Ethanol Dose (oz/hour)	Ethanol Dose (mg/100ml)	Function Impaired	Physical State
1-4	up to 100	Judgment, fine motor coordination, reaction time	Happy, talkative, boastful
4-12	100-300	Motor coordination, reflexes	Staggering gait, slurred speech, nausea, vomiting
12-16	300-400	Voluntary responses to stimulation	Hypothermia, hyperthermia, anesthesia
16-24	400-600	Sensation, movement, self-protective reflexes	Comatose
24-30	600-900	Breathing, heart function	Dead

• After drinking, people usually feel pleasure and become talkative at first. The feelings are usually replaced by drowsiness as the alcohol is eliminated from body, and the drinker may become withdrawn. This pattern often encourages people to drink more to keep the buzz going.
• Immediate medical attention is necessary if a person becomes unconscious, is impossible to arouse or seems to have trouble breathing.
• Drinking a high concentration of alcohol in a short period of time can suppress the centers of the brain that control breathing and cause a person to pass out or even die.
• When people pass out, their bodies continue to absorb alcohol. The amount of alcohol in the blood can reach dangerous levels, and they can die in their sleep. Continue to check on someone who has gone to sleep drunk. Do not leave that person alone.
• It is dangerous to combine alcohol with other drugs, especially those that make you sleepy
• Most alcohol is metabolized in the liver and then excreted. When someone drinks more alcohol than their liver can handle efficiently, the additional alcohol accumulates in the blood and body tissues.

Source: Buzzed: the straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy by Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder and Wilkie Wilson
Rev. 5.4.1999

[Chy]

Alcohol sure took it's toll on my body and it doesn't get any easier the older you get even when sober to achieve the fitness goals you work so hard far, take it from me, I know and will die trying!