Why do some people get drunk quickly? Why does a person get drunk? The principle of action of alcoholic drinks on the body

Drinking alcoholic beverages has a sharply negative effect on the body and leads to a state of intoxication - this is a well-known fact. But few people knowhow does a person get drunk. Perhaps a more detailed understanding of the mechanism of action of ethyl alcohol will force some lovers of strong drinks to reconsider their approach to their “hobby”.

Mechanisms of alcohol's effects on the body

Let's try to figure it out.

After alcohol enters the stomach, its absorption into the bloodstream begins. Alcohol has the properties of a solvent. Once in the blood, it affects red blood cells, dissolving their protective film. As a result, red blood cells stick together, forming rather large erythrocyte clumps. As they move through the vessels, clots get stuck in the narrowest places. It is difficult for even individual red blood cells to “squeeze” through some areas of capillaries and small vessels, especially for a group of them stuck together. Clots block blood flow, as a result, the supply of oxygen and nutrients to individual organs and tissues is stopped. The nutrition of certain areas of the brain is also disrupted, as a result, those who have taken alcohol begin to think poorly and have difficulty oriented in space. Here even from single consumption alcohol

Each subsequent intake of alcohol provokes the formation of larger and larger clots. Their number is also increasing . This condition is very dangerous for the body. Moving along with the bloodstream, large blood clots can “get stuck” in the most important vessels and lead to disruption or even cessation of oxygen access to vital organs, including the brain. When its areas are starved of oxygen, neurons begin to die. Over time, in addition to dizziness and loss of coordination of movements, more serious and - what is especially dangerous - irreversible consequences also occur. A person’s intellectual abilities and his ability to experience emotions suffer. Beginning And there is personality degradation. Chronic alcoholics no longer care about the questionand how it affects them and their loved ones. They are practically not interested in anything anymore, except for the opportunity to take a sip from their own bottle.

With prolonged consumption of alcohol, social and intellectual rehabilitation of a person becomes problematic, and in very severe cases, impossible. After all, dead brain neurons cannot be restored. They are washed out of the body. The process of clearing the brain of toxins and dead cells creates increased pressure in the head - one of the main symptoms of a morning hangover.

The greater the dose of alcohol, the more destructive the effect it has on the brain. Over time, scars form on the damaged areas, and the brain gradually becomes smaller.

Reasons for the rapid onset of intoxication

It is known that some people are not affected by even large doses of alcohol, while others get drunk from one glass. What is the reason for this phenomenon? Why does a person get drunk quickly?

A special enzyme, alcohol dehydrogenase, is responsible for the oxidation of ethyl alcohol in the body. Its deficiency leads to poor processing of alcohol, as a result of which a person becomes intoxicated even from a small dose of alcohol.

Age, gender and body weight also play an important role in the rate of exposure to alcohol toxins. Thus, with age, it becomes increasingly difficult for the body to neutralize toxic compounds formed as a result of the breakdown of alcohol. Women get drunk earlier than men. The situation is similar with people who are light in weight: less alcohol is required to intoxicate them. However, there is one nuance in this issue. If a person has a thick layer of fat, he will get drunk faster because fat absorbs alcohol.

Instructions

In general, alcohol intoxication is a consequence of the effect on the body of ethanol, which is contained in alcoholic beverages. This substance has a fairly strong psychologically active effect. When drinking alcoholic beverages, various changes are observed in a person’s emotional state, in his behavior, coordination and perception of reality. Thanks to the action of ethanol, alcoholic drinks can temporarily improve mood, relieve emotional stress, and liberate a person. However, for each person the dose of ethanol is individual, for some it can be very large, which is why it seems that such people do not get drunk at all.

In the human body, ethanol is absorbed through the mucous membrane, mainly through the walls of the stomach and intestines. When the substance enters the blood, it begins to have a certain effect on red blood cells, causing them to stick together. Microscopic clots of red blood cells clog small vessels that supply the brain. Because of this, a failure of brain cells occurs, which is why various deviations in human behavior appear; for the same reason, coordination of movements is also impaired. Signs of alcohol intoxication may vary from person to person and may have individual characteristics.

In many ways, the degree of alcohol intoxication from a certain dose of ethanol depends on weight and. The larger a person is, the less drunk he gets. The fact is that the degree of influence of ethanol on the body directly depends on its concentration in the blood. That is, the more, the lower the concentration of the intoxicating substance in it. For the same reasons, representatives of the fair sex usually get drunk faster, because by nature they are more fragile. It happens that a miniature girl can get very drunk even from a modest glass of champagne.

Affects the degree of ethanol exposure and the rate of beverage consumption. The fact is that if you drink very quickly, then significant doses of red blood cell clots reach the vessels of your brain faster, that is, intoxication occurs faster. The amount of food consumed with alcohol also affects the body. A snack is a substance that can retain ethanol, so people who eat a lot while drinking alcoholic beverages get drunk much slower.

One of the main reasons that a person gets drunk much slower than others is special enzymes in his body. Everyone has them, but the number of them varies individually. These enzymes, produced by the stomach, are able to break down alcohol, preventing it from entering the bloodstream. It is believed that women have much less enzymes in their bodies than men, but this is more of an assumption than a proven fact. And of course, the degree of intoxication is also influenced by the company of people with whom you spend time. In a comfortable, relaxing environment, a person can get drunk much faster.

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Intoxication is the natural state of a person who drinks any type of alcoholic beverage. The degree of intoxication will depend on the amount and strength of the drink. And also the individual characteristics of the drinker.

How does a person get drunk?

Any alcoholic drink contains ethyl alcohol. Ethyl or ethanol is highly soluble in water and fats, these are the most important reasons due to which it easily penetrates cell membranes, i.e., inside the cells themselves. Ethanol begins to be absorbed into the mucous membrane already in the mouth.

Once in the stomach, it is broken down by enzymes into water and carbon dioxide. Most of the alcohol is processed by the liver, but some remains unbroken, dissolved in fats. And this part gets into the blood and it depends on how drunk people get from alcohol.

1. Penetrating into the blood, unsplit ethanol affects red blood cells. These are red blood cells that are responsible for delivering oxygen to all organs. They must penetrate into the smallest vessels, so they do not come into contact with each other. All thanks to the fact that they are covered with a kind of protective film and have a negative electrical charge. Therefore they repel each other.
2. Alcohol destroys this film. Red blood cells begin to stick together, forming larger balls. They cannot penetrate the brain cells through the capillaries, and a state of hypoxia occurs. That is, the alcohol consumer experiences oxygen starvation, the state he was striving for. This is why a person gets drunk from alcohol. Two enzymes, alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ACDH), play an important role in the breakdown of ethyl alcohol. They are produced in fairly large quantities by the liver.

Very important! All mammals, not only humans, have an enzyme for the breakdown of alcohol, because the gastrointestinal tract, when processing food that enters it, also produces ethyl alcohol. It is neutralized by these enzymes.

According to the article “Enzymes that break down alcohol,” the mechanism of action of these substances is as follows:

• ADH neutralizes ethanol into its components: water, carbon dioxide, they are safe and are easily removed from the body;
• but there is another substance that appears as a result of decay - acetaldehyde, this is a very toxic substance that can kill a horse in certain concentrations; here ACDH comes into play, which completely neutralizes acetaldehyde.

ACDH is capable of fighting ethanol with a strength of up to 60%, processing almost 30 grams of this substance per hour. All this suggests that the human body, over millennia of drinking alcoholic beverages, has adapted to successfully combat the harmful effects of alcohol. But only if you do not exceed a certain consumption norm. And consume only natural products, not surrogates. Then the body successfully adapts to moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Why can a person not get drunk?

Alcohol affects everyone differently. It depends on the person’s weight, physical characteristics, and genetic predisposition. However, it is clear that at some stage of drinking alcohol this state will occur. The more you drink, the faster you will get drunk.

However, we need to find out what determines the degree of intoxication:

• the production of enzymes that break down ethanol is individual for everyone, and presumably this correlates with gender and nationality (they think, and this is unsaid, that there are few such enzymes in women and among northern, Asian peoples);
• The psychological factor is also important, although this point has also not been sufficiently studied, but scientists suggest that a person’s mood greatly influences his perception of alcohol; in a depressed state, the degree of influence is greater, since the entire psychophysical essence of a person is in a tense position, and this directly affects work all organs, including those that produce enzymes that break down ethanol.

Fact #1: Indians hardly get drunk. This is explained by the presence of “fast” alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH1B*47His) and fast aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH 7). They eliminate alcohol very quickly, so they simply don’t have time to get really drunk

South American Indians are very persistent in terms of intoxication

Fact #2: The Chinese get drunk faster than anyone else on the planet. This is explained by the presence of fast alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH1B*47His) and slow aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2*2)

And the Chinese get drunk faster than anyone else and they almost never have alcohol addiction

Conclusion one: it all depends on the amount of enzymes produced, their type (“slow” or “fast” allele) and their quantity. Therefore, for some, fill at least liters, while for others, a couple of glasses are enough to be “waste”.

How not to get too drunk at feasts

It is unnatural to drink and prevent intoxication. This is an axiom, an immutable fact. Either drink or leave it; if this is not possible, then it is better to settle for light drinks such as wine or beer. But they are also not suitable for those who have not drunk at all before. Since even the lightest wine or weak beer will make a revolution in the human body.

Therefore, it is best to know the rules of how to prevent the body from getting drunk:

• Do not drink a lot, or drink drinks that will not lead to difficult consequences the next day, i.e. light wine in limited quantities or beer, the first can always be raised in a glass during a toast, but not finished to the end;
• You cannot drink strong drinks, such as vodka, on an empty stomach, this drink must be drunk with a rich snack, otherwise you can damage the mucous membrane and be drunk from the first glass, no alcohol is drunk on an empty stomach, this must be remembered;
• If you don’t want to experience those consequences called a hangover, a few hours before the celebration you need to drink 5 tablets of activated carbon or any other adsorbent that will absorb all the harmful substances contained in alcohol;
• About an hour before the start of the feast, it is recommended to drink the drug “mezim”, it will help digestion and cope with all the consequences of a hangover;
• During the holiday, you should eat more meat dishes, vegetables, and everything hot, because this promotes the absorption and breakdown of alcohol.

All these remedies will help avoid hangovers and painful headaches for a person who is not used to drinking alcohol too often. But these remedies will also help those who have long been addicted to alcohol.

It just so happens, but for many millennia people have associated any holiday with drinking alcoholic beverages. Proponents of a healthy lifestyle will not agree with this, and yet the majority of the inhabitants of our planet drink alcohol, and some quite often. Few people have thought about why this happens, why our body reacts this way to strong drinks. Why does a person get drunk? Let's talk about this.

The effects of alcohol on the body

Each strong drink contains ethyl alcohol. It is he who has a psychoactive effect on humans. Under the influence of this component, the behavior of both men and women begins to change. Let's take a closer look at the body's reaction to drinking a glass of beer or wine.

Initially, as soon as the intoxicating mixture enters the stomach, it begins to be absorbed into the blood, thereby changing its structure. Ethanol has an aggressive effect on red blood cells, components that are responsible for supplying oxygen to the cells of the body, including brain cells. He destroys them. Red blood cells are red cells covered with a protective membrane. Under the influence of alcohol, it is destroyed, and the bodies themselves stick together. The resulting large clots do not allow blood to move calmly, in the usual rhythm, through the blood vessels. Brain cells suffer from a lack of oxygen, and a person begins to perceive reality differently; as they say, he stops thinking soberly. This is how the process of intoxication starts.

Second pile: what will it bring us?

We continue to answer the question: “Why does a person get drunk?” further. The next stack leads to increased generation of blood clots. The human body begins to suffer from oxygen starvation, in medicine it is called hypoxia. The effect of such fasting on the body is as follows:

1. General health becomes poor and unhealthy.
2. A headache appears.
3. A person begins to think more slowly, and speech becomes slurred.
4. There is a violation of attention and memory.
5. The person may become irritable.
6. Coordination in space is impaired.
7. The person feels dizzy and has difficulty sleeping. Many will say that everything is fine with sleep, but they will be wrong. The body in this state does not rest as it should, so the next morning we feel tired, overwhelmed and depressed.

Hypoxia can lead to diseases such as stroke and asthma - and these are not all the terrible diseases that people who abuse alcohol suffer from.

Is there a difference between drinking vodka and beer?

Why does a person get drunk if he drinks low-alcohol drinks? As a rule, a person consumes such intoxicating drinks in large quantities; few people limit themselves to a couple of glasses of a cold, foamy drink, so ultimately the body will receive a lethal dose of ethyl alcohol.

The more alcohol you drink, the more reflex activity will suffer. The person has trouble standing on his feet and his balance is disturbed. The more actively a person drinks, the more difficult it is for him to control himself. The brain completely loses control over the body. That is why the most stupid and thoughtless acts are committed while intoxicated.

What happens to vision?

Our eyes stop focusing pictures. A very drunk person experiences double vision and hearing loss. He has difficulty hearing and has difficulty pronouncing sounds himself.

General conclusion

Any strong drink has a negative effect on the human body. Don't think that wine is better than vodka, or beer is better than wine. No! Even a small amount of ethyl alcohol is poison for the body. Brain cells suffer, lack of oxygen negatively affects the functioning of all internal systems and human organs. Liver cells slowly but surely die. But that's not all. Gradually, a person suffering from alcoholism degrades socially and intellectually. Brain cells die, the digestive organs, nervous system and heart suffer.

Why does a person get drunk quickly?

Alcoholic drinks affect each person differently. Some people get drunk already from the second glass, while others, as they say, drink all evening - and never see one! Let's discuss why people get drunk from alcohol in different ways. To process acetaldehyde, the human body produces a special enzyme - alcohol dehydrogenase. Most of it is in the liver. The least amount is in the skeleton and cardiac muscles. The blood of a person leading a healthy lifestyle does not contain this substance (by the way, due to insufficient production of this substance, intolerance to alcoholic beverages develops). During the death of liver cells, this hormone enters the blood vessels.

The more active this enzyme is, the slower a person gets drunk. The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase depends on the following:

1. Age characteristics. The older we become, the more difficult it is for our body to get rid of toxic substances (products of the breakdown of ethyl alcohol).
2. Sexual characteristics. Men and women get drunk differently. Women are much faster.
3. Representatives of the Far North practically do not have this hormone, so they get drunk very quickly.
4. Weight features. The thinner a person is, the faster he gets drunk.
5. Genetics, hereditary factors.

If a person often drinks alcohol, the intensity of the hormone decreases, ethanol breaks down more and more slowly, and intoxication occurs faster.

Why do we quickly get drunk from one bottle of foamy drink?

Everyone has probably heard the myth that beer does not lead to alcoholism. However, this is not the case. One bottle of beer is equal to fifty grams of vodka, and a person drinks more than one bottle of the intoxicating drink at a time. Therefore, the answer to the question of why a person quickly gets drunk after drinking alcohol, namely beer, is quite understandable.

Why does a person drink and not get drunk?

Sometimes in our company we meet people who drink just like everyone else, but at the same time they are cheerful, cheerful and... do not get drunk. This phenomenon is unusual, but nevertheless there is an explanation for it. So why don't some people get drunk?

1. Individual characteristics of a person, his physiology (weight, height, age, etc.). Young girls and boys can drink much more alcohol than older people, since their bodies are more saturated with water. When ethyl alcohol enters the body of an adult, it quickly saturates its blood vessels; in addition, the internal organs of such people are already worn out and also cannot strongly resist the poison that enters the body.
2. The body contains a high level of the hormone alcohol dehydrogenase, which actively breaks down ethyl alcohol.
3. Psychological characteristics. If a person is in high spirits and has a feeling of celebration, then this citizen gets drunk more slowly.

Why doesn't a person get drunk from alcohol? The reasons also lie in alcoholism. People suffering from this disease do not feel intoxicated. The nerve cells of such people die.

Who is more susceptible to intoxication, a woman or a man?

As already mentioned, in the body of any person there are enzymes that are responsible for the breakdown of ethyl alcohol. The fewer of these enzymes, the faster intoxication will occur. Men are lucky in this regard; their bodies contain more of the hormone alcohol dehydrogenase than women’s. We should not forget that the more wine we drink, the less of this hormone we have left. Frequent consumption of alcoholic beverages leads to the death of nerve cells. We can say that people suffering from alcoholism do not feel intoxicated, but outwardly they get drunk very quickly.

In addition, men have fewer fat cells in their bodies than women. These cells do not absorb ethyl alcohol, they are indifferent to it, so the blood takes on the entire shock dose - and the weaker sex gets drunk faster compared to the stronger.

Tips on how to prolong the feeling of celebration and not get drunk at the beginning of the feast

1. Before the feast, it is best to drink activated charcoal two or three hours before the meal in a dose of one tablet per 10 kilograms of body weight. Coal is known for its beneficial properties of absorbing all toxins and carefully removing them from the body.
2. Before a shot of vodka, eat a sandwich of white bread and butter. The oil will create a protective film on the walls of the stomach, which will not allow ethyl alcohol to be instantly absorbed into the blood.
3. Eat a little before drinking alcohol, do not drink on an empty stomach. This will also reduce the time it takes for ethanol to enter the bloodstream.
4. The best snack is potatoes with meat. The dish must be hot. Do not overuse salads with mayonnaise as a snack.
5. Don’t sit still, move more, dance, take part in competitions, as they say: “The holiday went well when the next morning it’s not your head that hurts, but your legs!”
6. Go outside for a breath of fresh air more often.
7. Don't drink a whole glass - it's better to "sip" a little. Do not abuse alcohol, the consequences can be very bad, remember this!

So, we talked about why a person gets drunk. Draw your own conclusions, each for yourself. I would like to wish you not to abuse strong drinks! Drink alcohol in moderation, so that the evening you spend brings pleasure and not health problems!

For many, holidays, parties, or just a friendly meeting accompanied by drinking alcoholic beverages ends in alcohol intoxication, but few people think about why it occurs.

Everyone knows that a person gets drunk from alcohol. The ethyl alcohol contained in it has a psychoactive effect, which provokes deviations in the behavior of a man or woman, as well as transformation in some physiological functions and psychology.

In this article we will try to understand the reasons leading to this condition.

Let us sequentially dwell on each effect that a drunk glass of cognac or vodka has.

Firstly, after drinking alcohol or a beer drink, the alcohol immediately begins to be absorbed into a person’s blood, changing its structure. The first to fall under the destructive influence of ethanol are red blood cells, which deliver oxygen to the tissues of the body, including brain cells. Their protective shell dissolves under the influence of alcohol, and the red blood cells begin to stick together. The clots formed in this way prevent the free movement of blood flow. As a result, brain cells do not receive the amount of oxygen they need, which affects a person’s ability to think adequately, perceive reality, and navigate in space. This is how the first dose of alcohol starts the process of intoxication.

Secondly, the next intake of alcohol significantly increases the generation of blood clots. The result of this process is oxygen starvation (hypoxia), the main symptoms of which are:

• deterioration in general health;
• vague pain in the head;
• slow thinking and speech;
• impaired attention and memory;
• attacks of unreasonable irritability;
• dizziness and impaired coordination of movements;
• difficulty sleeping.

Metabolic disorders, bronchial asthma, stroke - this is an incomplete list of diseases that hypoxia leads to.

Thirdly, the effect of alcohol on the nervous system leads to a deterioration in a person’s conditioned reflex activity: the ability to form complex movements weakens, and an imbalance occurs between the processes of inhibition and excitation.

After drinking a large amount of alcohol, the process of inhibition in the cerebral cortex is repeatedly suppressed under the influence of increasing concentrations of alcohol. A man or woman loses the ability to take responsibility for their actions.

Fourthly, alcohol affects vision and hearing. The eyes lose the ability to focus, and the “picture” in front of a drunk person begins to double. He loses the ability to clearly hear sounds and pronounce them.

Conclusion: any alcohol, be it a bottle of wine, a liter of beer or any other alcoholic drink, has a negative effect on the body from the first sip. Even small portions of alcohol are poisonous to brain cells. Oxygen starvation caused by its use negatively affects all vital functions of the body. In addition, concentrating in the liver and brain, it kills their cells, leading to irreversible negative consequences, gradually having a detrimental effect on the intellectual and social status of a person.

Alcoholism, which is caused by the systematic consumption of alcohol-containing drinks, makes a person dependent. Destroying, first of all, the brain. Alcohol undermines the circulatory, nervous and digestive systems. At the same time, regular drunkenness aggravates chronic illnesses and provokes an exacerbation of existing diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, and so on.

Causes of rapid intoxication

The effect of alcohol on the body is very individual. Some people get drunk quickly, literally from the first glass, while others can drink a lot and not get drunk. Let's consider the reasons for this phenomenon.

The human body contains a specific enzyme - alcohol dehydrogenase. Its content is distributed as follows: the main amount is in the liver, and a small amount is in the kidneys, cardiac and skeletal muscles. The substance is absent in the blood of a healthy, non-drinking person.

If it is found in the bloodstream, then this is an indicator of the death of liver cells.

The activity of the enzyme is determined by the following factors:

• age: the older a person is, the more difficult the process of utilization of toxic combinations formed as a result of the breakdown of ethanol occurs;
• gender: when taking the same amount of alcohol, the ethanol content in the blood plasma is higher in women than in men,
• race. For example, the peoples living in the Far North are the Yakuts, Chukchi, Nenets. This enzyme is completely absent in their body;
• weight of men and women: people with low weight get drunk faster;
• genetic predisposition.

The frequency and regularity of drinking alcohol reduces the intensity of alcohol dehydrogenase. This means that the process of breaking down ethanol slows down significantly.

The lower the amount of enzyme, the more difficult it is to process ethanol, which is the main reason for rapid intoxication.

Reasons why a person does not get drunk

It happens that some people can drink a lot of alcohol without becoming intoxicated. This unusual phenomenon can be explained by several reasons:

1. Individual and physiological characteristics of a person (gender, age, nationality, weight category, physical characteristics, predispositions, etc.).
2. The content of alcohol dehydrogenase in the body is an enzyme that promotes the breakdown of ethyl alcohol.
3. Psychological factors. For example, mood affects a person's susceptibility to alcohol at a given moment.

Experts note another fact: people who regularly drink strong alcoholic drinks in large doses do not feel intoxicated. The reason for this phenomenon lies in the death of neurons, that is, nerve cells.

If you have a long feast ahead, you can take note of a few recommendations:

• a couple of hours before the holiday, drink activated charcoal;

• eat a sandwich with butter;
• do not drink alcohol on an empty stomach;
• have a snack, giving preference to hot meat dishes, preferably with potatoes;
• leave the room for fresh air as often as possible;
• move as much as possible: dance, take part in competitions and others.

And of course, you shouldn’t get drunk to the point of what people call “falling face down in a salad.”

Sobriety is the key to a good mood and an effective way to avoid possible negative consequences caused by alcohol. Remember that everything is good in moderation.

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