dangerous. With yet higher doses, sleep orunconsciousness may develop, while respiration is seriously depressed.Upon intake, ethanol is quickly absorbed from the stomach (about twenty percent) andfrom the first section of the small intestines. Thus the onset of action is related in part to how fastit passes through the stomach. Having food in the stomach can slow down the absorption becausethe stomach does not empty its contents into the small intestines when it is full. This is whydrinking on an empty stomach leads to almost instant intoxication. Maximal blood levels areachieved about thirty to ninety minutes after ingestion. After about twenty to thirty minutes forequilibration, blood levels are a good estimate of brain levels. Ethanol freely enters all bloodvessels, including those in the small air sacs of the lungs. Once in the lungs, ethanol exchangesfreely with the air one breathes in and out, making a breathalyzer a good estimator of the amountof alcohol in one’s body.Between ninety and ninety-eight percent of the ethanol dose is metabolized. The amountof ethanol that can be metabolized in a certain amount of time is roughly proportional to theindividual’s body weight. Women generally achieve higher alcohol blood concentrations than domen, even after the same amount of alcohol consumed because women have a lower percentageof total body water. Alcohol also is consistent with the effects of tolerance and physicaldependence. Once a person is physically dependent on alcohol, he or she is then considered analcoholic. Alcoholics are not looked kindly upon in American society and are thus encouraged toseek help.Chronic consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to a number ofneurological disorders, including altered brain size, permanent memory loss, sleep disturbances,seizures, and mental disorders. Other harmful effects may also result from excessive alcoholintake. The chronic drinker usually fails to meet basic...
