Download Alcohol, Circulation and Respiration

Alcohol, Circulation
and Respiration
Alcohol: A Conversation
Biology 20
Circulation
Alcohol in the Bloodstream
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Some alcohol (20%) enters the bloodstream
through the stomach wall. Most (80%) passes
into the bloodstream through the small intestine.
Once alcohol enters the bloodstream, it is
transported throughout the entire body.
Alcohol is carried to the brain through the
bloodstream. When alcohol is absorbed by
nerve cells, their activity slows down.
Alcohol and Circulation
Equilibration
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Process of alcohol being circulated rapidly
throughout the whole body and becoming fairly
evenly distributed once absorbed into the
bloodstream
If you haven’t eaten before drinking, the alcohol
gets into your bloodstream in about a minute.
Alcohol and Circulation
Short-term effects
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Temporary increase in heart rate and blood
pressure
Peripheral blood vessels dilate resulting in heat
loss and feeling of warmth
Alcohol and Circulation
Long-term effects
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Alcohol abuse can lead to chronic high blood
pressure, cardiomyopathy (deterioration of the
heart muscle) and other heart diseases.
As alcohol moves through the bloodstream, it
damages and kills red blood cells, which carry
oxygen, and with extended use may cause
anemia.
Is alcohol good for your heart?
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Moderate alcohol consumers (two or fewer
standard drinks per day) have lower mortality
rates from coronary heart disease than
abstainers do.
Alcohol does this by increasing the
concentration of HDL (high density lipoprotein
cholesterol – “good cholesterol”).
Alcohol also inhibits platelet aggregation and
blood coagulation.
Respiration
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Alcohol depresses respiration.
Someone who is really drunk (BAC of 0.40,
about five times the legal limit) can stop
breathing.
How alcohol gets from the blood
into the breath
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Because ethanol is volatile, some of the alcohol that
you drink transfers from the blood into the alveolar
air sacs in the lungs in proportion to the
concentration in the blood.
This occurs in much the same way that carbon
dioxide leaves the alveolar blood and enters the
lungs for exhalation from the body.
As a result, the alcohol concentration in the breath
can be determined, which can then be used to
calculate the blood alcohol concentration.