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Alcohol intoxication affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, and delayed reflexes. There is an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder for teenagers while their brain is still developing. [2] Adolescents who drink have a higher probability of injury including death. [2]
Consuming large amounts of alcohol over a period of time can impair normal brain development in humans. [10] [vague] Deficits in retrieval of verbal and nonverbal information and in visuospatial functioning were evident in youths with histories of heavy drinking during early and middle adolescence. [11] [12]
Alcohol is known to potentiate the insulin response of the human body to glucose, which, in essence, "instructs" the body to convert consumed carbohydrates into fat and to suppress carbohydrate and fat oxidation. [63] [64] Ethanol is directly processed in the liver to acetyl CoA, the same intermediate product as in glucose metabolism.
Alcohol can increase your risk of cancer, but it can also prevent some heart attacks. Here's the complicated truth. What alcohol does to your brain and body, according to the latest science
Food such as fructose can increase the rate of alcohol metabolism. The effect can vary significantly from person to person, but a 100 g dose of fructose has been shown to increase alcohol metabolism by an average of 80%. In people with proteinuria and hematuria, fructose can cause falsely high BAC readings, due to kidney-liver metabolism. [106]
Alcohol has a powerful effect on glutamate as well. Alcohol decreases glutamate's ability to bind with NMDA and acts as an antagonist of the NMDA receptor, which plays a critical role in LTP by allowing Ca2+ to enter the cell. These inhibitory effects are thought to be responsible for the "memory blanks" that can occur at levels as low as 0.03% ...
Alcohol abuse affects neurons in the frontal cortex that typically have a large soma, or cell body. This type of neuron is more susceptible to Alzheimer's disease and normal aging. Research is still being conducted to determine whether there is a direct link between excessive alcohol consumption and Alzheimer's disease. [8]
Alcohol affects the nutritional state of chronic drinkers. It can decrease food consumption and lead to malabsorption. It can also create imbalances in skeletal muscle mass and cause muscle wasting. Chronic consumption of alcohol can also increase the breakdown of important proteins in the body which can affect gene expression. [161]