Alcohols: Lichtblau Flashcards
What areas of the brain does ethanol affect first?
Those involved in most highly integrated functions: Reticular activating system, cortical sites, loss of cortex integration control.
What does the term “disinhibition euphoria” mean?
Initial stimulation by ethanol due to depression of inhibitory control.
What is death usually caused by from too much ethanol intake?
Respiratory depression
Which thought and motor processes are affected 1st?
Those that are most dependent on training and previous experience (ex. surgeon in OR that is intoxicated)
Are the beneficial effects of ethanol on CV health outweighed by the deleterious effects?
No
Ethanol is a vasodilator: what does this do to body heat?
Drops the core body temperature
What does ethanol do to HDL and LDL?
Increases HDL and lowers LDL
Why are you less likely to develop blood clots if consuming ethanol?
Ethanol increases production of endogenous tissue-type plasminogen activators (t-PA).
Acutely, how does ethanol interfere with oxidative metabolism of other drugs?
Depletes NAD which is a cofactor for the metabolism of other drugs.
Chronically, why can ethanol make a person less sensitive to sedatives when sober?
It increases oxidative metabolism.
What accumulates in the liver of a chronic ethanol user?
Fat (increased hepatic synthesis) and protein….This is usually reversible with abstinence.
What can prolonged damage from ethanol lead to in the liver and are they permanent?
Cirrhosis and alcoholic hepatitis. YES.
What makes alcohol a diuretic?
It decreases ADH release from the pituitary. This decreases the reabsorption of water in the renal tubules of the kidneys.
Does alcohol have nutritional value?
No (except carbs in beer)
If you have an adequate diet, can you get Wernicke-Korsakoff if you are a chronic alcohol user?
Yes, ethanol can cause malabsorption of vitamins even in the presence of adequate dietary intake.
What is the Mechanism of action of ethanol?
Similar to anesthetics, it causes membrane disorder.
What does it mean that ethanol is an “amphophile?”
It is both hydrophilic and lipophilic.
If you have a meal high in fat, does it take more or less time to absorb the ethanol?
More
What is the rate limiting step in ethanol metabolism?
Alcohol dehydrogenase
Why can’t you increase ethanol excretion with a diuretic?
Because very little is excreted by the kidney so almost no un-metabolized ethanol is excreted.
How do you treat methanol intoxication?
Give ethanol
What does it mean that ethanol is generally “self-limiting?”
The person passes out before reaching lethal concentrations.
How do you reduce methanol acidosis?
Bicarbonate
The formation of formic acid from methanol (methanol–>formaldehyde–>formic acid) causes what?
Acidosis and retinal damage (blindness)
