Taking alcoholic beverages affects the body sharply negatively 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 acquaintance with the mechanism of action of ethyl alcohol will force some lovers of intoxicating drinks to reconsider their approach to their "hobby".
Mechanisms of the effects of alcohol on the body
Let's try to figure it out.
After alcohol enters the stomach, its absorption into the bloodstream begins. Alcohol has solvent properties. Once in the blood, it acts on erythrocytes, dissolving their protective film. As a result, the red blood cells clump together to form fairly large red blood cell clumps. In the process of moving through the vessels, the clots get stuck in the narrowest places. Through some parts of the capillaries and small vessels it is difficult to "squeeze" even individual erythrocytes, especially their stuck together group. Clots block the blood flow, as a result, the supply of individual organs and tissues with oxygen and nutrients is interrupted. The nutrition of some areas of the brain is also disturbed, as a result, the person who has taken alcohol begins to think poorly and finds it difficult to navigate in space. Here even from single consumption alcohol.
Each subsequent intake of alcohol provokes the formation of clots of increasing size. Their number is also increasing ... This condition is very dangerous for the body. Moving 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. With oxygen starvation of its sections, neurons begin to die. Over time, in addition to dizziness and impaired coordination of movements, more serious and - what is especially dangerous - irreversible consequences occur. The intellectual abilities of a person suffer, his ability to experience emotions. Start and degradation of personality is found. Chronic alcoholics no longer care about the questionand how it affects themselves and their loved ones. They are already practically of little interest, except for the opportunity to kiss their own bottle.
With long-term consumption of alcohol, social and intellectual rehabilitation of a person becomes problematic, and in very severe cases, even impracticable. After all, dead neurons in the brain cannot recover. They are flushed 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 higher the dose of alcohol, the more destructive it has on the brain. Over time, scars form on the damaged areas, and the brain gradually shrinks.
The 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, a person falls into a state of intoxication even from a small dose of alcohol.
Age, gender and body weight also play an important role in the rate of exposure to alcoholic toxins. So, with age, it becomes more difficult for the body to neutralize the 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 lightweight: less alcohol is required to get drunk. However, there is one caveat to this issue. If a person has a thick layer of body fat, then he will get drunk faster, since fat absorbs alcohol.
The state of alcoholic intoxication occurs under the influence of ethyl alcohol contained in any alcoholic beverages.
It has a psychoactive effect, causing euphoria and other related manifestations.
Perhaps information about why a person gets drunk, and how the process of intoxication develops, will force some people to use alcohol more meaningfully, or maybe even refuse it altogether.
How drunkenness develops
The mechanism of development of this condition is the same for all people. But some get drunk quickly and strongly, while others - slowly and moderately.
So why do people get drunk differently? Once in the body, ethanol is absorbed into the bloodstream.
A small part is absorbed already in the oral cavity, therefore, when people drink alcohol in small sips, they get drunk much faster. About 20% of ethanol enters the bloodstream through the stomach wall.
And the lion's share - through the walls of the small intestine. On average, the assimilation time of 100 ml of vodka is about 1 hour.
The intoxication process occurs according to the following algorithm:
- ethanol is carried through the bloodstream, mixing with water and lipids;
- overcoming the blood-brain barrier, it enters the brain;
- in the brain, gamma-aminobutyric acid (neurotransmitter) is activated, which triggers the processes of inhibition of the central nervous system;
- dopamine, the hormone of pleasure, is released into the blood;
- in the liver, alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are produced - enzymes that break down ethanol;
- ethanol is broken down to acetaldehyde and then to acetic acid.
But before acetaldehyde, the toxic breakdown product of ethanol, is converted into harmless acetic acid, it enters the brain, where it combines with dopamine. As a result, a substance is formed that is similar in action to morphine. It is this narcotic substance that causes a feeling of euphoria.
The degree of intoxication
Experts distinguish three degrees of intoxication:
- easy;
- moderate severity;
- strong.
Alcohol can cause severe poisoning, as a result of which a person falls into a coma and dies. Depending on the individual characteristics of the organism, a dose of 4 to 10 g per 1 kg of body weight can become lethal for an adult.
The most common cause of death is blockage of the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata. But in the body of a healthy person, protective functions are most often triggered.
If there are not enough enzymes capable of neutralizing ethanol, and alcohol continues to flow, the protective functions are activated - the person plunges into deep sleep. Moreover, all of its physiological processes will be inhibited until the decay products of ethanol are completely excreted by the kidneys and lungs.
Forms of intoxication
Experts distinguish several forms of this condition:
- simple;
- modified;
- pathological.
A simple form of intoxication
There are several degrees of intoxication - light, medium and heavy. With a mild degree, a person experiences mental comfort.
He becomes more sociable and purposeful. There is a lack of coordination of movements, and speech becomes louder.
A mild degree of intoxication is accompanied by an increase in appetite. Due to the accelerated blood circulation in the vessels, redness of the skin is observed.
After a while, the increase in motor activity is replaced by lethargy and relaxation. In the moderate degree of intoxication, the changes in behavior become more pronounced and rude.
Mimicry loses its expressiveness, and speech becomes even louder and slurred. With an average degree of intoxication, a person often repeats the same phrases, irritating others.
The person has difficulty switching attention. He begins to overestimate his personality, which becomes the cause of conflict situations with family and friends.
A few hours after stopping the use of alcohol, dryness appears in the mouth, there is a strong thirst, a feeling of discomfort and weakness. With a severe degree of intoxication, a violation of consciousness occurs.
A person can fall into a coma. But more often this condition is accompanied by epileptic seizures, involuntary acts of defecation and urination.
Altered and pathological forms of intoxication
Altered forms of intoxication are typical for people suffering from the second stage. They are accompanied by bouts of aggression, anger, pickiness, discontent and auditory illusions.
Pathological intoxication is not common and represents a mental disorder in the form of a twilight clouding of consciousness.
What determines the rate of intoxication
Having figured out why a person gets drunk from alcohol, you should consider what factors affect the rate of intoxication.
The amount of time it takes to achieve a state of euphoria depends on many factors. First of all, it is influenced by the strength of alcoholic beverages and their volume.
Genetics is one of the deciding factors. In some people, the production of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is disrupted at the genetic level.
If enzymes are produced slowly, the state of intoxication occurs quickly. And, conversely, with an accelerated metabolism, a person may not get drunk at all, since the decay products of ethanol are broken down to acetic acid, not having time to get to the brain.
This feature is inherent in Asians. They quickly get drunk, since liver enzymes do not have time to break down ethanol.
And Europeans, on the contrary, get drunk slowly, as their liver intensively produces enzymes. Therefore, they can drink much more.
Residents of the former Soviet republics were the least fortunate. In their body, only alcohol dehydrogenase is actively produced.
And acetaldehyde dehydrogenase is produced either very little, or the production of this enzyme is completely blocked. They can drink alcohol, but acetalcehyde accumulates in their blood, causing a severe hangover syndrome.
Other reasons
Why do some people get drunk quickly? After all, they live in the same country and have a common nationality. There are a lot of factors influencing the rate of intoxication.
These include:
- age over 40 (drunkenness occurs faster due to slow metabolism);
- gender (women accumulate an insufficient amount of alcohol dehydrogenase in the gastrointestinal tract);
- excessive calmness (in a calm state, a person gets drunk much faster);
- low body weight.
It has been proven that overweight people get drunk slowly.
This factor is caused by the fact that in their bodies, ethanol, after entering the bloodstream, binds to lipids (fats). Thin people are deficient in lipids, so the alcohol in their body only binds to water.
Conclusion
Alcohol consumption causes drug intoxication, which occurs against the background of the combination of acetaldehyde with dopamine. The breakdown of ethanol occurs primarily in the liver.
But for each person, the process of splitting can proceed in different ways, which affects not only the speed of the onset of the state of intoxication, but also the elimination of ethanol from the body. Knowing the mechanism of the drunkenness process, it becomes clear why one person gets drunk faster than another.
Video: The mechanism of intoxication
People get drunk in different ways. Surely many asked a similar question - why does one person get drunk right away, while another can drink almost a liter of alcohol and nothing will happen to him?
And the point here is not only in the nature of the snack or in the fact that someone drank on an empty stomach, and someone ate satisfyingly before that. Although these factors also play an important role.
The root of the problem is much deeper, and you need to look for it in the characteristics of your body. Let's try now to find out the whole point of the question - why do people get drunk in different ways?
Many people, knowing that a feast awaits them, resort to various methods in order to hold out during the feast as long as possible.
There are all kinds of ways: pills, infusions, special foods or products that help you stay in line for a long time. But, as they say, you can't fool yourself.
No matter how many ways and methods have been invented, there is a category of people who will sleep after one or two glasses. What factors play a primary role? As strange as it may sound, age, gender, body composition and even a person's nationality are important here.
To find out all the reasons need to deal with that, how the process of intoxication itself occurs... The fact is that while drinking alcohol, a substance such as ethanol enters the human body. It is he who leads to the intoxication in the head.
Once in the stomach and intestines, it seeps into the blood through the mucous membrane. In the blood, ethanol does its insidious thing. It directly affects red blood cells, which begin to clump together. As a result, clots are formed.
They slow down blood circulation, clog the brain, dull the work of many organs, make a kind of oxygen starvation for the brain. Hence the strange behavior of a drunk person - uncontrolled movements, inappropriate behavior and much more. 
Some lovers of frequent feasts specially train their bodies, gradually improving the level of their "skill" in this difficult field.
But no matter how hard they try, each organism has a boundary limit when it can no longer resist toxins. For example, people of large size, who are both tall and large, get drunk more slowly.
The fact is that in such people the volume of blood in the body will be much higher than in small people, fragile physique. This ultimately affects the rate at which ethanol spreads in the blood.
Hence the conclusion that a huge person can drink more than a small one. Also, large people will have a larger liver, and therefore will more actively cope with alcohol, removing toxins from the body.
Drunkenness is also influenced by the rate at which alcohol is consumed..
If you quickly pour in several glasses in a row, then blood clots will very soon cling to the brain and disrupt its normal functioning. Therefore, it is better to drink slowly, then you can drink a little more.
Also, the appetizer plays an important role. Food is capable of absorbing some of the ethanol, as it were. Therefore, during a feast, it is better to have a good snack. But you shouldn't gorge on belly too.
Since in the morning there may be not only a hangover, but also heaviness in the stomach from stagnant food. It is not for nothing that they say that you should not drink on an empty stomach, you need to "spread" at least a little.
This statement is completely correct. If there is food in the stomach, the alcohol will first be absorbed by it. It serves as an absorbent sponge for itself, which filters alcohol and promotes its slow absorption.
Drinking alcohol correctly is also important.... Most drink water from the glass immediately after the glass. But this is not worth doing. After all, a liquid, especially one that has bubbles, promotes a faster spread of alcohol through the blood. As a result, you will get drunk faster.
This is why champagne often hits the balls. Indeed, in its structure, an explosive mixture is obtained - alcohol and bubbles in tandem.
The speed of intoxication is influenced by enzymes that are in the body of every person. The whole process depends on their quantity - the fewer there are, the faster you will be drunk.
According to statistics, there are more such enzymes in the stronger sex, but this fact has not been scientifically proven. Enzymes are found in the liver. They are the ones who fight the alcohol in our blood. In some people, these enzymes have a more active form. As a result, they cope with alcohol faster.
But the owners of passive enzymes just the same and quickly get drunk. This factor cannot be influenced in any way. Reducing the number of such enzymes or dulling their activity is easy.
The fact is that the possibilities of this kind of substances are not unlimited. Frequent drinking will deplete them.
Another fact in favor of men in the intoxication process is that there are fewer fat cells in their body. But women have plenty of them. It is these cells that are generally indifferent to alcohol - they do not absorb it.
As a result, this leads to the fact that the blood is saturated with ethanol faster and more densely. Therefore, women are not so strong in alcoholic competitions.
Young people are more resistant to intoxication... Unlike older people, they can drink more because they have more fluid in their bodies.
In the body of an elderly person, the amount of fluid decreases, which, when drinking alcohol, leads to an early saturation of the blood with alcohol. In addition, many organs and cells of old people are already worn out, and therefore much more vulnerable.
The intoxication process also depends on the genetic makeup of the body. For example, Asians get drunk much faster than others. Because in alcohol there is another harmful component, which genes must cope with. 
The liver must drive acetaldehyde out of the body. But the presence, or vice versa, the absence of certain genes, can slow down this process.
The physiological characteristics of the body also affect the speed of intoxication.
A person who is often sick, physically exhausted, often in a bad mood and will give up after two or three shots.
Also, a lot depends on the company, flow mood, psychological mood and even the reason to "sit". In addition, the frequency and regularity of drinking also has consequences.
For example, in people who abuse alcohol, the head becomes intoxicated faster. After all, their body is oversaturated with ethanol and is no longer able to withstand alcoholic poisons.
In addition, the enzymes of such people have long gone on a well-deserved vacation, since they cannot cope with the amount of alcohol consumed.
All the reasons and factors were sorted out on the shelves. Now you know for sure why some people get mowed after a glass of champagne, while others can drink all night long.
And no excipients will help deceive your body - the norm is the norm.
The use of alcoholic beverages negatively affects the functioning of the body. By drinking a certain amount, a person starts to get drunk. Many are familiar with the process itself firsthand, but why a person gets drunk from alcohol is not clear to everyone.
Having familiarized yourself with the mechanism of action of alcoholic beverages on the body in more detail, one can understand why intoxication occurs and how harmful consequences can be prevented.
How alcohol works
Alcohol works after entering the body as follows. After it has entered the stomach, it is gradually absorbed into the bloodstream. The properties of alcohol resemble a solvent - once in the blood, it begins to influence red blood cells and gradually dissolves their protective film. They begin to stick together and, as a result, form whole clusters. Moving through the vessels, clots in some places where the channels are narrow, get stuck.
Some areas of blood vessels and especially capillaries are so narrow that even individual red blood cells cannot squeeze through them. Clumping groups cannot do this even more so. As a result of these movements, the blood flow is closed, some tissues and organs are deprived of the flow of blood, and with it the supply of nutrients necessary for functioning, and oxygen. There are problems with the nutrition of some parts of the brain, a person who has consumed ethanol stops thinking fully. Orientation in space turns out to be difficult for him. Therefore, even a single intake of alcoholic beverages becomes a cause of intoxication.
With each subsequent drinking of alcohol, new clots are formed, the size of which is more and more, and their number also increases. This condition poses a considerable danger to the body. When moving along with the blood flow, the largest of the blood clots can clog important vessels and cause oxygen metabolism disorders. In the most difficult cases, it is likely that the oxygen supply to the most important vital organs, including the brain, is interrupted.
When the brain loses full oxygen supply, its neurons gradually begin to die. This provokes a condition in which dizziness occurs, coordination of movements is impaired. With frequent alcoholic libations, the consequences can begin such that they are classified as irreversible. The intellect is especially affected - a person gradually loses the ability to think, reason logically, the ability to feel emotions is lost. This is how the degradation of personality begins.
People, whose dependence on alcohol has developed into a chronic one, is no longer particularly worried about the question of why they feel bad after heavy drinking. They do not ask questions why a person gets drunk after a certain amount of ethanol - they care little about anything other than the possibility of getting another dose of alcohol.
Long-term consumption of alcohol in significant quantities seriously complicates the possibilities for social and intellectual rehabilitation. The most severe cases make this task impracticable. After death, the neurons of the brain are not able to recover - they are washed out of the body. A process is underway, as a result of which the brain is gradually cleared of toxic substances and cells that have had time to die. Due to this, increased pressure is created in the head. This is the main symptom of a morning hangover.
Alcohol has a relaxing effect on the central nervous system, which is very harmful. With large amounts of alcohol, the brain is more destructive than with the use of small doses. Gradually, scars begin to form on the damaged areas. As a result, the brain begins to shrink in size.
There is a common myth that the action of alcohol helps to keep warm in the cold. But it should be noted that this is a deceiving sensation. Alcoholic drinks, on the other hand, increase the heat transfer from the body, but a drunk person can easily believe that he is warm. Such disturbances in perception often lead to rather sad consequences - in the cold you can get frostbite of the limbs, and sometimes freeze to death.
Why does a person get drunk quickly
Alcohol can affect a certain part of people only after drinking in large doses; in others, intoxication occurs after a single shot. People who get it right away are trying to figure out why you quickly get drunk from alcohol. This can be explained as follows.
Alcohol dehydrogenase, a special enzyme, is responsible for the oxidation of ethanol in the body. Its action at a low content in the body is expressed in poor-quality processing of alcohols. Therefore, a person who has little enzyme can get drunk even after a very small amount of alcohol.
The speed of work of alcoholic substances is significantly influenced by the age, body weight, sex of the drinker. With age, it becomes more and more difficult to neutralize toxic compounds that are obtained after the breakdown of ethanol. Men tolerate the effects of alcohol better than women. People with low body weight get drunk from a small amount of alcoholic products. And those with body fat should be careful. Fat absorbs alcohol well, and intoxication sets in quickly.
Why does a person not get drunk from alcohol, drinking a lot
In addition to the problems with accelerated intoxication, there are also problems with its absence. In most cases, alcohol is taken precisely in order to frown this state - it allows you to relax, forget, and have great fun. But sometimes a person, after taking a certain amount of alcohol, finds himself in some bewilderment, which makes him ask the question - "I am not drunk from alcohol - why?"
The ability to drink a lot of fluids with ethanol and not get drunk is called alcohol tolerance, good tolerance. The reasons for this phenomenon are different - it may be a DNA feature, but more often it is the result of prolonged "training", that is, frequent and abundant alcoholic libations.
Increased tolerance to the effects of alcohol means that in order to achieve intoxication, a person needs to drink a lot more than usual.
Tolerance to the effects of alcohol is not as good as it might seem. People with this trait have the opportunity to drink more, which means that they will cause more damage to their body. With a large amount of ethanol ingested, significant harm is caused to the organs. At a certain point, the enzymes necessary for the breakdown of alcohol may stop being produced altogether - this leads to instant intoxication, even if before that the person was able to drink a lot.
No matter how much a person chooses to consume alcohol, it must be remembered that while doing so it causes significant harm to the body. Processes can be irreversible if overused.
The consumption of alcoholic beverages is largely due to the resulting result in the form of intoxication. A person becomes cheerful and relaxed, and this happens due to the effect of the decomposition products of alcohol and ethanol itself on the central nervous system. There are no special receptors for alcohol, but after the product enters the body, a cascade of enzymatic reactions is triggered. Selected neurotransmitters contribute to the feeling of drunkenness and euphoria.
The mechanism of development of intoxication
Alcoholic intoxication develops in all people according to the same principle, but with different speed and strength. Ethanol, after entering the body, begins to be partially absorbed in the oral cavity and penetrate into the blood. The rest of it is absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the stomach and small intestine. Then the algorithm or mechanism of the process is described in terms of physiology and biochemistry:
- ethanol travels with the bloodstream and mixes with lipids and water;
- the substance penetrates the blood-brain barrier into the brain;
- there the neurotransmitter GABA is activated, which triggers the processes of inhibition of the central nervous system;
- at the same time, the neurotransmitter dopamine is released, giving a sense of pleasure;
- at the same time, the enzymes alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase are activated;
- enzyme systems break down ethanol to acetaldehyde and acetic acid.
Then acetaldehyde - an intermediate decay product (highly toxic) - enters the brain and combines with dopamine to form a morphine-like substance. It is this that gives the feeling of intoxication, disrupts the coordination of movements, memory, dulls the receptors of the sense organs. A person can behave atypically and even aggressively.
If the released enzymes become insufficient to neutralize ethanol, and alcohol continues to flow, defense mechanisms are triggered. A person gets drunk from alcohol, falls asleep. Less often, loss of consciousness or respiratory arrest occurs due to blockage of the respiratory center in the medulla oblongata. Inhibition processes prevail until all the alcohol is converted to acetic acid and excreted by the kidneys or lungs.
Why does a person get drunk quickly
The rate of intoxication depends not only on the amount of alcohol consumed and its strength, but also on other reasons. The timing of the loss of sobriety is influenced by genetic factors. Microbiologists investigated the activity of enzymatic systems for the processing of alcohol and realized that it depends on the suppressor gene. This gene suppresses the production of alcohol dehydrogenase.
The population in Asia possesses this genetic code, so they get drunk quickly. Enzymes simply do not have time to break down alcohol. Representatives of the Caucasian race get drunk slowly, respectively, they can drink more drinks. They have a predominantly fast cleavage complex and alcohol dehydrogenase turns on faster.
The most dangerous option, which is typical for residents of the CIS countries, is the presence of alcohol dehydrogenase and a small amount or suppression of the enzyme acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. Then the toxic substance acetaldehyde accumulates in the blood, giving a severe hangover syndrome.
A person quickly gets drunk at an older age, after 40 years, due to a slowdown in metabolic processes. Women are faster than men due to the high activity of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver and its lack in the gastrointestinal tract. Low weight and calmness of the body are the next reasons for the rapid loss of control.
In overweight people, alcohol binds to fats, leaving the bloodstream, and in thin people, only with water, circulating in the blood. In addition, an excited mood contributes to the acceleration of metabolism and the activation of all metabolic processes, even after drinking alcohol. But in a balanced state, people get drunk quickly.
How to drink and not get drunk
It must be remembered that alcohol begins to be absorbed into the bloodstream from the oral cavity. Therefore, taking the drink in slow sips will lead to rapid intoxication. In order not to lose control, you must drink in one gulp.
Do not mix different types of alcohol. If the evening begins with champagne, then it is not recommended to eat sweet foods on it. This will speed up the intoxication process. In addition, you should not drink on an empty stomach. Before the meal, it is recommended to eat protein foods or, for example, drink yogurt.
Activated carbon will help you get drunk more slowly. It should be drunk half an hour before the start of the use of intoxicants in age doses. Additionally, during a meal with ethyl, you can drink a Pancreatin or Mezim tablet, this will speed up the metabolic processes of other substances (lipids, proteins). Each glass of wine (or glass of spirits) should be diluted with a glass of clean water.
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