We all (who are 21) have been
there. You’ve just had one of the hardest weeks of your college lives and now
you want to celebrate with all your friends. However, some may celebrate to a
whole other level without fully comprehending the damage done to their body.
So, you’re
a couple shots deep and starting to feel really good, almost euphoric. But
what’s really happening? Well, you’ve basically just dumped a bunch of poison
into you’re liver that it can’s process quick enough causing it to produce an
enzyme call alcohol dehydrogenase. This converts alcohol into acetaldehyde,
which plays a huge role in hangovers, and then is broken down to acetic acid.
You feel really “good” at this point because alcohol caused Dopamine (the
reward molecule) to be released and is reducing your inhibitions.
A few more
shots later you’ve broken the seal and now you can’t stop going to the
bathroom! All this alcohol you’ve been consuming is actually blocking this
hormone called Vasopressin which, when working the way it should, allows you to
retain water. But now you’ve blocked this hormone and it’s like Niagara Falls
every time you go to the bathroom. Additionally, all these bathroom breaks cause
you to secrete a bunch of water leading to a dreaded hangover the next day.
Between bathroom runs you spot this
super hot guy, or at least your “drunk goggles” are telling you he’s hot.
Basically, he looks better than a lot of the other guys left in this bar so
you’ll take what you can get. As you stumble over to him you try out your
smoothest line but it comes out more slurred and awkward than you thought. At
this point, all the shots have caused an increase in GABA, a neurotransmitter
in the brain. It slows down your speech and movements, to be specific for this
situation, and makes this guy, who would otherwise not be on your radar, the
most attractive man in the world.
In conclusion, drink responsibly
and happy holidays!
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/whats-happening-your-body-when-you-get-drunk
http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/whats-happening-your-body-when-you-get-drunk
I have always wondered what is actually happening to when I start to drink too much Cool-Aid Lilght; I have couple questions though. Does acetaldehyde break down at a constant rate, or does the shear number contribute to longer hangovers than others? Also, I wonder what brain structures are affected by the release of GABA and if this is a major reason one's judgement is impaired when intoxicated.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense now why alcohol is a depressant because GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain.
To answer one of my questions alcohol affects the frontal cortex which is responsible for judgement and decision making.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daviddisalvo/2012/10/16/what-alcohol-really-does-to-your-brain/
I think this is very interesting, and alcohol is a very interesting drug itself. Remember that there is more than one type of alcohol dehydrogenase in the body. There are two types present in most people. ALDH one I beleive is the main one that normally breaks down acetaldehyde in the body. ALDH2 is the one in the body that turns on during binge drinking when the concentration of alcohol has become too high, or one someone takes the song "Shots" too literally. It acts as a backup system most times. It is very interesting because many Asian ethnicities only have the second form and this is often times when they get "asian glow" or become red in the face and the body. The second form kicks in and acts extremely fast because the body believes that there is a higher concentration of alcohol than normal. This is why the red glow occurs due to the fact that the body is working extremely hard.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember that alcohol also affects ADH which is also why the flood gates seem to open and one has to run to the bathroom. ADH is responsible for retaining water and when the pituitary gland is prevented from secreting ADH, the body can not retain fluids and one has to use the bathroom more frequently.
This is a really reminder of what actually is going on in your body when you're taking shots after shots. Like Richard mentioned above, there are 2 types of ALDH in your body; ALDH 1 normally turns on when you're sipping on alcohol slowly and ALDH 2 is activated when the alcohol concentration became high in a short amount of time. We actually learned about the whole process of getting drunk during our Biochemistry class and how the "Asian Glow" happened; which is when you lack the enzyme to break down alcohol and that leads to a buildup of acetaldehyde. I was wondering since you're losing fluid while drinking alcohol, would drinking water between shots help with the morning hangover? Some people say they never get hangover because of the "types of alcohol" that they drink, do you think this is accurate? How does that even work? Does drinking different of alcohol determine whether you'll have a hangover the next day or not?
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