TRANSFORMATIONS OF ALCOHOL IN THE HUMAN BODY
Alcohol can enter the human body in several ways: with air inhaled through the lungs, even damaged skin (especially in children, so be careful when compressing!), through the digestive tract. Cases of chronic alcohol poisoning are known, occurring at the employees of these distilleries or bottling plants, where the concentration of alcohol vapor in the air exceeds the permissible limits. However, only drinking alcoholic beverages is of practical importance.
Alcohol is absorbed into the blood from the mouth and esophagus: ok. 20% of all alcohol consumed is absorbed from the stomach, the rest — from the small intestine. The stomach and intestines are entwined with a dense network of blood vessels. Thanks to its ability to combine with water in any proportion, and thanks to its low molecular weight and simple structure, alcohol penetrates from the digestive tract into the blood much faster than other substances, and with it - to all organs of the body supplied with blood. In the organs, alcohol is distributed in proportion to the water content of the tissues, according to the general laws of free diffusion of liquids; alcohol is not detected only in the hair, nails and tooth enamel, so in these tissues, which are not concealed. Because the so-called. parenchymal organs - liver, the endocrine glands and the brain contain the most water in proportion, therefore it is in these organs that the highest concentration of alcohol is found.
The rate at which alcohol is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract into the blood depends on many factors. Stronger drinks absorb faster, because they dilate blood vessels and thus increase the absorption surface; also the high temperature of the liquor (np. "toast", mulled wine and beer) or the drinker's fever causes the alcohol to pass into the blood more quickly. The presence or absence of an appetizer is of great importance, as well as its type: alcohol is absorbed very quickly from an empty digestive tract; fats coat the walls of the stomach and thus isolate them from alcohol, slowing down the absorption, and proteins (and, in fact, some of their decay products) they chemically bind with alcohol to form harmless compounds (so-called. neutralization or inactivation of alcohol). Any damage to the lining of the stomach or intestines (catarrh, sore), diseases of the digestive tract, and even nervous state-dependent changes in the muscle tone of the walls of the stomach and intestines accelerate the absorption of alcohol. The rate of alcohol intoxication depends on the rate of absorption.
Ethyl alcohol is one of the few substances, which from the digestive tract penetrates into the tissues unchanged. From the moment you drink the first sip of the drink, the body activates a number of mechanisms to defend itself against poisoning, excretion of alcohol and a decrease in its concentration in the tissues. In people who are not used to drinking, there is a spasm of the muscle ring, (so-called. pylorus of the stomach) separating the stomach from the duodenum; then alcohol cannot penetrate further into the digestive tract and is absorbed more slowly. Reverse reactions occur in particularly sensitive people (antiperistaltic) gastrointestinal movements, leading to vomiting. However, as a person gets used to drinking, these mechanisms disappear. Alcohol removal, that has already entered the blood, is done in two ways; through excretion and through combustion, that is, oxidation by chemical transformation. The body excreted unchanged approx. 5—10% of alcohol consumed; alcohol is in exhaled air, in sweat, urine, kale, saliva. In lactating mothers, alcohol is excreted in breast milk (this may cause poisoning of the infant!). Remaining amount (90—95%) alcohol is burned in the tissues, especially in the liver and muscles. This combustion follows a pattern:
C2H5OH + O = ONLY3GIVE (acetaldehyde) + H20
CH3GIVE + O = ONLY3COOH (acetic acid)
CH3COOH + 2O2 = 2CO2 + 2 H2O,
so ultimately one molecule of alcohol produces three molecules of water and two molecules of carbon dioxide. Intermediate products of this transformation, and especially acetaldehyde are a strong poison and they mainly damage tissues. The above-described alcohol conversion reactions take place in the presence of catalysts, which are enzymes found in the liver (alcohol dehydrogenase) and in the muscles (catalase), so all liver diseases that cause enzyme deficiency hinder and slow down the burning of alcohol, in this way, they prolong the duration of poisoning and intensify the changes, caused by alcohol in the tissues.