The Technograph

Have you ever wondered about the effects of alcohol on your body? What does my body go through after I put this glass to my mouth? Well, it’s time to become an informed drinker. Dustin Lange of the Kinesiology and Community Health Department in the College of Applied Health Sciences teaches students about the effects of alcohol on the body. Technograph recently talked with Mr. Lange to find out more about our bodies and alcohol.

Alcohol is broken down by the body through a process called oxidation. The oxidation rate for adults is about 1/3 to 1/2 ounce of pure alcohol per hour, which relates to a 5-ounce glass of wine, one shot of liquor, and just less than one 12-ounce beer. According to Lange, “The body recognizes alcohol as a visitor with no real biological purpose. It contains calories but no vitamins, minerals, or other components that have any nutritional value.”

Alcohol first reaches the stomach where about 20% of it is broken down into acetaldehyde by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase. The remaining alcohol travels to the small intestine where it is absorbed into the bloodstream and the liver. The liver is most affected by alcohol. It is the only organ with enough alcohol dehydrogenase to oxidize the alcohol fast enough. The liver breaks the alcohol down to acetaldehyde which is further broken into acetic acid. From there, further oxidation results in oxygen, carbon dioxide, and calories of energy. Only about 10% of the original alcohol is removed through the breath and urine.

The alcohol that remains in the bloodstream moves throughout the body and affects it greatly. The effect of alcohol varies depending on the amount of alcohol consumed, the drinker’s sex, age, genetics, weight, and family history. In the short term, alcohol increases blood pressure, weakens the immune system, causes dehydration, increases heat loss in cold weather, reduces sexual function, impairs hand-eye coordination, causes an increased tendency toward violence and aggression, and causes blackouts.

With extensive drinking habits, or even binge drinking, which is defined as five or more drinks in a row for men and four or more drinks in a row for women within two hours, alcohol has many negative long term effects on the body. These effects include liver disease, liver cancer, larynx caner, pharynx cancer, breast cancer (in women), lower IQ, decline in verbal learning and memory, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, and Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome.

As mentioned, there is a big difference between alcohol oxidation for men and woman. Women absorb about 30% more alcohol in their bloodstream than men. This

is due to a number of reasons. Women have a higher percentage of body fat than men. They also have a lower percentage of water, which results in a greater concentration of alcohol in the blood. They also have less acetaldehyde dehydrogenase—the enzyme that breaks down alcohol—in their stomachs than men. Lange also mentions that “women tend to be smaller and lighter than men which puts them at an additional disadvantage when it comes to holding their liquor.”

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