Alcohol Review Notes:
Questions to answer:
Alcohol consumption produces a dose-dependent response. What does this mean?
What is the mechanism of action?
What are the consequences of chronic alcohol consumption?
Describe the treatment options for alcoholism.
What is FASD and how is it caused?
– Covers a class of substances
– Isopropyl alcohol- rubbing alcohol
– Methyl Alcohol- wood alcohol (colourless alcohol, used for fuel
– Ethanol (alcohol)
– Fermentation process is sugar + water + yeast = ethanol + carbon dioxide
– Distillation: concentrate alcohol
– Egyptians, Greeks and Romans all like alcohol
– Wine blamed for fall of Roman emperor: lead poisoning
– Prohibition lead to black market
Pharmacokinetics
– What the body does with the drug
– Orally, absorb by passive diffusion
– Distributes evenly throughout the body and across blood brain barrier
– Soluble in water and fat
– Ethanol is transferred across placenta and distributes throughout the body of fetus
– 12-14% in wine
– 5% beer
– 40-50 % hard liquor
– acetaldehyde gives you a hangover
– acetate is brown down to carbon dioxide and water
– aldehyde dehydrongenase inhibites, helps people not want alcohol
– but also gives you nonstop hangover
– average adult metabolizes 10-14ml of 100% alcohol/ hour