drugs of abuse- ALCOHOL Flashcards
how do you calculate alcohol by volume?
grams of alcohol per 100ml
what is the pharmacokinetics of alcohol?
administered orally
goes to the stomach and then into the intestines where it is absorbed
why are the effects of alcohol greater on an empty stomach?
if you drink on a full stomach it mixes with the food in the stomach and is released into the intestines much slower. stomach absorbs very little
on an empty stomach the fluid passes straight through to the intestines where it is most effectively absorbed
how is alcohol metabolised
90% of alcohol is metabolised
85% in liver by alcohol dehydrogenase (75%) or mixed function oxidase (25%)
phase 1
alcohol—> acetaldehyde
phase 2
aldehyde dehydrogenase —> acetic acid (acetate),
which is inert
10% of alcohol is extreted unmetabolised (in breath)
why do you get alcohol tolerance?
increased alcohol consumption increases the amount of mixed function oxidase so alcohol can be metabolised quicker and onset of alcohol effects decreases
this is reversible
why do you get more drunk when you drink quicker?
the enzymes present in the liver can
be saturated, and this is why if you drink too much alcohol very quickly, the enzymes
become saturated, more alcohol gets into the bloodstream
why do women tend to get more drunk than men with the same amount of alcohol
women have 50% less alcohol
dehydrogenase in their stomach linings than men, and so women are less effective at metabolising the
alcohol.
Another difference between men and women refers to body water. Alcohol is water soluble, and so
looking at the total percent of body water that alcohol can dissolve in
describe the pharmacodynamics of alcohol?
incredibly low pharmacological potency.
It is a very simple chemical
entity.
Alcohol binds to a lot of things, but not particularly well, so you need to take vast amounts of it to have
an effect
