Alcohol Intoxication Flashcards
Why is methanol so dangerous?
broken down into formaldehyde which is toxic
How to treat methanol overdose?
Competitive inhibition with ethanol +/- dialysis
Why does competitive inhibition of methanol with ethanol work?
both metabolised with alcohol dehydrogenase
Why shouldn’t you drink on an empty stomach
unmetabolised alcohol gets to the small intestine quicker because gastric emptying is promoted. this means more of it is absorbed.
what happens when you drink on a full stomach
alcohol stays in stomach longer because gastric emptying is delayed so more is metabolised there and less is absorbed in SI
why do women have a lower tolerance for alcohol than men?
men have more lean mass and a higher blood volume so more room for dilution; women have a lower level of alcohol dehydrogenase
name the pathway involved in the breakdown of alcohol
alcohol-> acetaldehyde->acetate +co2+h2o
which is the first enzyme involved in the alcohol breakdown pathway?
alcohol dehydrogenase
what is the second enzyme involved in the alcohol breakdown pathway
aldehyde dehydrogenase
how quickly is alcohol removed from the body?
1 unit per hour
why do you become more tolerant of alcohol the more you drink
upregulate levels of alcohol dehydrogenase so faster breakdown
why do you get sore legs after a night out?
switched to alternative pathways of metabolising alcohol such as anaerobic pathway-> lactic acid
why do you get the munchies after a night out?
alcohol switches off gluconeogenesis in liver so you become hypoglycaemic–> food helps
why does alcohol make you fat?
its calories are more likely to make you fat, excess ketogenesis, lipid synthesis
what happens in ketoacidosis?
liver can’t make glucose so go to alternative ketogenic pathway that decreases sugar
