PSYT 301 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Alcohol Tolerance, Palpebral Fissure, Alcohol Dehydrogenase
24 Feb 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Introduction to alcohol: historical and social issues + epidemiology, patterns of alcohol use and abuse. After alcohol is drunk, it is rapidly and completely absorbed from the entire gi tract as it can diffuse easily across all biological membranes. Most from upper intestine due to large sa. Often takes 15-60mins for alcohol to be absorbed and have max concentration in the blood, faster for people with empty stomachs as most bypasses gastric metabolism. 95% of the alcohol a person ingests is enzymatically metabolized by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (adh), other 5% excreted through the lungs usually. Women have higher bac than men due to the following 3 factors: Women have about 50% less gastric metabolism of alcohol because of a lower level of gastric adh enzyme. Men may have a greater ratio of muscle to fat than do women, men thus have a larger vascular compartment and therefore alcohol is somewhat more diluted in men.
