Download How Alcohol Is Absorbed Through The Body?

Underage Drinking and Its Effects
Making The Right Choice
How Alcohol Is Absorbed Through The Body?
• Once an alcoholic beverage is consumed, 20%
of alcohol is absorbed by the stomach, the
remaining 80% is absorbed by the small
intestine.
• Alcohol enters the bloodstream trough the
walls of the small intestine.
• Alcohol is then carried throughout the body
to different body tissues.
How Alcohol Is Absorbed Through The Body?
• Enzymes in the liver metabolize alcohol. The liver can
process one ounce of liquor (or one standard drink)
within an hour.
• This is also dependent on factors such as the persons
weight and gender.
• Otherwise, the blood becomes saturated, and alcohol is
accumulated in the blood and tissues until it can be
metabolized.
How alcohol affects your body?
•
Source: http://www.newbehaviorinstitute.net/image/30391931.jpg
Stomach
• While in the stomach, alcohol
acts as an irritant increasing digestive juices.
• Chronic irritation can lead to damage of the
lining.
• Drinking alcohol causes stomach irritation
that may lead to gastritis, ulcers and severe
bleeding.
Stomach
• Left untreated, peptic ulcers can cause internal
bleeding and can eat a hole through the wall of your
stomach or small intestine, putting you at risk of
serious infection of your abdominal cavity (peritonitis).
Peptic ulcers can also produce scar tissue that can
obstruct passage of food through the digestive tract,
causing you to become full easily, to vomit, and to lose
weight.
- MayoClinic.com
Heart
• Drinking alcohol causes a slight increase in
blood pressure.
• Increases in blood pressure makes the heart
work harder than it needs to and can be a
risk factor for coronary disease, stroke, and
heart attacks.
• Alcohol increases the risk for alcoholic
cardiomyopathy, enlarged weakened heart.
Heart
Normal
Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy
- Weaken by excessive alcohol intake
Source :
http://www.womensheart
.org/content/HeartDiseas
e/alcohol_and_heart_dis
ease.asp
Brain
• The brain is the command
center of the body.
• It takes about 30 seconds
for the first amount of
alcohol to reach the brain
after digestion.
• Alcohol acts on nerve cells
deep in the brain.
Comparative Mammalian Brain Collections, University of WisconsinMadison http://www.brainmuseum.org/ Funded by NSF
Brain
• The most highly developed part
of the brain is the cerebral cortex.
- Takes up 2/3 of the brain
- Responsible for thinking, reasoning,
perceiving, producing and understanding
language.
- Divided into specific areas involved in
vision, hearing, touch movement and smell.
Brain
• Nerve cells in the brain communicate through
electrical impulses that are enabled by
neurotransmitters.
• Alcohol acts as a depressant to the central
nervous system and inhibits
neurotransmitters.
• Judgment and coordination , two process of
the central nervous system, become impaired.
Brain
• Drinking inhibits firing of nerve cells that
control breathing, referred to as respiratory
depression.
• Excessive drinking may cause vomiting. A
person could inhale the vomited fluids,
resulting in asphyxiation.
How alcohol can affect the young brain.
• Brain goes through dynamic changes during
adolescence, alcohol can damage long and
short term growth process. Brain damage
from alcohol during this time can be terminal
and irreversible.
• Short term or moderate drinking impairs
learning and memory more in youth than in
adults.
Brain
Image from Susan Tapert, PhD,
University of California, San
Diego.
http://www.sfn.org/index.cfm?p
agename=brainBriefings_youngB
rainsOnAlcohol
The brain images above show how alcohol may
harm teen mental function. Compared with a
young non-drinker, a 15-year-old with an
alcohol problem showed poor brain activity
during a memory task. This finding is noted by
the lack of pink and red coloring.
Liver
• Excessive drinking can lead to liver damage.
Including:
- “Fatty Liver”
- Hepatitis
- Alcohol Cirrhosis
• “Fatty Liver” is the earliest stages of
alcoholic liver disease. The liver becomes
swollen with fat globules and water. If
drinking is stopped at early stage, the liver
can heal itself.
Liver
• Hepatitis is inflammation and soreness of the
liver. In advance state, it becomes difficult
for the liver to breakdown waste products in
blood, leading to jaundice, condition where
skin turns yellow-orange.
• Alcohol Cirrhosis causes cells of liver to be
damaged beyond repair. Dead cells caused by
cirrhosis cause scar tissue, which in itself can
lead to further complications. Scar tissue
build up prevents blood flow in the liver.
Progressed scarring can not be cured.
Liver Damage
A. Normal Liver
B. Fatty Liver
C. Cirrhosis
It’s the Law!
•
Minors who purchase, attempt to purchase, possess,
or consume alcoholic beverages, as well as minors
who are intoxicated in public or misrepresent their
age to obtain alcoholic beverages, face the following
consequences:
(1) Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a
fine up to
$500
(2) Alcohol awareness class
(3) 8 to 40 hours community service
(4) 30 to 180 days loss or denial of driver's
license
It’s the Law!
• Adults and minors who give alcohol to a minor
also face a stiff penalty.
The punishment for making alcoholic
beverages available to a minor is a class A
misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to
$4,000, confinement in jail for up to a
year, or both. Additionally, the violator will
have his or her driver's license automatically
suspended for 180 days upon conviction.
It’s the Law!
• Also as of September 1, 2005, persons 21 or
older (other than the parent or guardian) can
be held liable for damages caused by
intoxication of a minor under 18 if the adult
knowingly provided alcoholic beverages to a
minor or knowingly allowed the minor to be
served or provided alcoholic beverages on the
premises owned or leased by the adult.
• Sale to a minor is a class A misdemeanor,
punishable by a fine up to $4,000,
confinement up to a year in jail, or both.
GO TO JAIL with NO DRIVERS LICENSE
DEATH
Drunk Driving is the #1 Cause of
Death in Teenagers!
Cites
•
http://www.centurycouncil.org/research/how-alcohol-affects-your-body
•
http://www.alcoholpolicymd.com/pdf/brain3.pdf
•
http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/atod/alc_aay
b.htm
•
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/CollegeStudents/anatomy/InteractiveBody_flash.
aspx
•
http://ezinehealth.com/articles/10/1/Cirrhosis-of-the-liver/Page1.html
•
Underage Drinking and The Law
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/leginfo/underagelaws.htm
•
Free Poster
http://www.tabc.state.tx.us/leginfo/tsnPoster.pdf