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ABSTRACT

In the introductory part of this document, the various types of alcohols are reviewed; methanol is the simplest of them while ethanol is the alcohol with an agreeable odor and characteristic taste found in most alcoholic beverages.

The amount of alcohol in the body is measured using the Blood Alcohol Concentration, the higher the value, the greater the effects which range from 0.02%, mild alteration of feeling to 0.5%, death.

Alcohol enters the mouth and follows a path similar to other drugs and it is metabolized in the liver to Carbon dioxide and Water through a series of steps

Alcohol, just like any other substance, when taken in excess has serious toxic effects; starting from the liver where it is metabolized, the entire nervous system involving the brain where the damage is most felt. Alcoholism also has social effects.

Consuming alcohol in moderation on the other hand has countless beneficiary effects than excessive drinking or abstaining. It helps improve memory and thinking. It prevents many diseases and even reduces risk of stroke, Demantia and High Blood Pressure.

Some alcoholics are unable to moderate drinking so a way forward is to produce non alcoholic drinks with alcohol flavor. Studies have shown that some people drink just to feel drunk and they consume such no alcoholic drinks and act drunk.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION TO ALCOHOL

1.1 TYPES OF ALCOHOL

Alcohols are a class of organic compounds containing the hydroxyl group, OH, attached to a carbon atom. Alcohols have one, two, or three hydroxyl groups attached to their molecules and are thus classified as monohydric, dihydric, or trihydric, respectively. Methanol and ethanol are monohydric alcohols. Alcohols are further classified as primary, secondary, or tertiary, according to whether one, two, or three other carbon atoms are bound to the carbon atom to which the hydroxyl group is bound. Alcohols, although analogous to inorganic bases, are neither acid nor alkaline. They are characterized by many common reactions, the most important of which is the reaction with acids to form substances called esters, which are analogous to inorganic salts. Alcohols are normal by-products of digestion and chemical processes within cells and are found in the tissues and fluids of animals and plants.

Methyl alcohol, or methanol, CH₃ OH, is the simplest of all the alcohols, made from hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Methanol is used as a denaturant for grain alcohol, as an antifreeze, as a solvent for gums and lacquers, and in the synthesis of many organic compounds, particularly formaldehyde. When taken internally, by either drinking the liquid or inhaling the vapors, methanol is extremely poisonous.

Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, C₂ H₅OH, is a clear, colorless liquid, with a burning taste and characteristic, agreeable odor. Ethanol is the alcohol in such beverages as beer, wine, and brandy.

Ethanol has been made since ancient times by the fermentation of sugars. All beverage ethanol and more than half of industrial ethanol is still made by this process. Starch from potatoes, corn, or other cereals can be the raw material. The yeast enzyme, zymase, changes the simple sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. The fermentation reaction, represented by the simple equation

C₆H₁₂O₆→ 2C₂ H₅OH + 2CO₂

is actually very complex because impure cultures of yeast produce varying amounts of other substances, including fusel oil, glycerin, and various organic acids. The fermented liquid, containing from 7 to 12 percent ethanol, is concentrated to 95 percent by a series of distillations.

Higher alcohols, those of greater molecular weight than ethyl alcohol, have many specific and general uses. Isopropyl alcohol is used extensively as a rubbing alcohol, butyl alcohol is a base for perfumes and fixatives, and others are important flavoring agents and perfumes. Polyhydric alcohols, those containing more than one 8OH group, are also important-as, for example, the trihydric alcohol known as glycerol.

1.2 ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES

Beer

Alcoholic beverage made from cereal grains, usually barley, but also corn, rice, wheat, and oats. Beer is made using a process called fermentation, in which microscopic fungi called yeast consume sugars in the grain, converting them to alcohol and carbon dioxide gas. This chemical process typically produces beer with an alcohol content of 2 to 6 percent.

Four basic ingredients are used to brew beer: grain, hops, yeast, and water. Grain contains the natural sugars required for fermentation. It also provides beer with flavor, color, body, and texture. Hops are small, green, cone-shaped flowers from the hop plant, a vine related to the nettle plant. Two species of yeast used to make beer, called brewer’s yeast, are Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Saccharomyces uvarum.

Wine

Alcoholic beverage made from the juice of grapes. During fermentation, microscopic single-celled organisms called yeasts digest sugars found in fruit juice, producing alcohol and carbon dioxide gas in the process.

Wine is also made from the fermented juice of pears, apples, berries, and even flowers such as dandelions. Wine naturally contains about 85 to 89 percent water, 10 to 14 percent alcohol, less than 1 percent fruit acids, and hundreds of aroma and flavor components in very small amounts.

While the basic production elements of wine are simple, manipulation of the grapes, juice or must, and wine to produce the desired combination of flavors and aromas is very difficult, and many recognize this process as an art form.

Champagne

sparkling wine produced by a traditional method in the Champagne region around Reims and Épernay in northeastern France. The word is derived from the Latin campagna, meaning countryside, a name for this area of France since the Middle Ages

While defined as a white sparkling wine, there are varieties of champagne. The three grapes used in champagne production are white Chardonnay and the red varieties Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Wine-makers must be careful to acquire clear juice from the red grapes for standard champagne

Brandy

Alcoholic beverage produced by the distillation of grape wine and matured by aging in wooden casks. When freshly distilled, the brandy is clear and colorless and will remain so if kept in glass containers.

The most famous brandy is cognac. In the United States, liquors made from fruits other than grapes are also called brandies, but are more correctly termed cordials or liqueurs.

Whiskey

Liquor distilled from the fermented mash of cereal grains and containing about 40 to 50 percent ethyl alcohol by volume. Whiskeys are broadly divided into two categories, straight and blended.

The principal whiskey types are Scotch, distilled primarily from barley; Irish, from a mixture of five different grains, including malted barley; American, primarily from rye or corn; Canadian, from a blend of cereal grains; and Japanese, from various blended grains, sometimes including small amounts of rice, but seldom wheat or rye.

All whiskeys are made from grain or malt (sprouted grain), or from both, and water. Certain other substances, such as sherry wine and caramel (burned sugar), may be added to blended whiskey in small amounts.

1.3 BLOOD ALCOHOL CONCENTRATION (BAC)

Blood Alcohol Concentration (%)

Effects

0.02	Mild alteration of feelings, slight intensification of moods.
0.05	Feelings of relaxation, giddiness, lowered inhibitions. Judgment and motor skills are both slightly impaired.
0.08	Muscle coordination and reaction time impaired. Face, hands, arms, and legs may tingle and then feel numb. Legally intoxicated in Canada and some U.S. states.
0.10	Clumsiness, uncoordinated behavior. Impairment of mental abilities, judgment, and memory. Legally intoxicated in most U.S. states.
0.15	Irresponsible behavior, euphoria. Some difficulty standing, walking, and talking.
0.20	Motor and emotional control centers measurably affected. Slurred speech, staggering, loss of balance, and double vision can all be present.
0.40	Drinker is usually unconscious.
0.45	Respiration slows and can stop altogether.
0.50	Death can result.
Source: National Safety Council and California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs

What affects the amount of alcohol in your blood?

The amount of alcohol in the blood is known as the blood alcohol concentration or BAC. Your BAC depends on how much you’ve drunk and how quickly you drank it. Other important factors affecting BAC are:

Your size and weight
If you’re small, your blood alcohol volume is obviously less than that of someone who is larger. So the same amount of alcohol will probably affect you more.

Your sex
Women can’t drink as much as men. That’s not a male conspiracy but a biological fact! Women are generally smaller. They also have proportionately less body water and more body fat – and alcohol doesn’t dissolve easily in fat. That’s why, drink for drink, women end up with more alcohol in their blood than men.

Your water level
If you’re dehydrated, alcohol will have a greater effect than if your body’s water concentration is normal. That’s why drinking alcohol in summer or after exercise affects you more.

The amount you’ve eaten
If you drink a unit of alcohol on an empty stomach, almost all of it will be absorbed in an hour. But if there’s food in your stomach, the process will be slower and the alcohol reaches your brain and the rest of your body more slowly.

1.4 THE PATH OF ALCOHOL IN THE HUMAN SYSTEM

1. Mouth: alcohol enters the body.
2. Stomach: some alcohol gets into the bloodstream in the stomach, but most goes on to the small intestine.
3. Small Intestine: alcohol enters the bloodstream through the walls of the small intestine.
4. Heart: pumps alcohol throughout the body.
5. Brain: alcohol reaches the brain.
6. Liver: alcohol is oxidized by the liver at a rate of about 0.5 oz per hour.
7. Alcohol is converted into water, carbon dioxide and energy.

1.5 METABOLISM OF ALCOHOL

The first step in the metabolism of alcohol is the oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde catalyzed by alcohol/dehydrogenase containing the coenzyme NAD⁺. The acetaldehyde is further oxidized to acetic acid and finally CO₂ and water through the citric acid cycle. A number of metabolic effects from alcohol are directly linked to the production of an excess of both NADH and acetaldehyde.

CH₃CH₂OH + NAD⁺ —> CH₃CH=O + NADH + H⁺

The red box shows the above reaction.

(Adapted from C.S. Lieber, Sci. Am. 234(3), 25(1976)

Metabolic Fates of NADH:

1. Pyruvic Acid to Lactic Acid:

The conversion of pyruvic acid to lactic acid requires NADH:

Pyruvic Acid + NADH + H⁺ —> Lactic Acid + NAD⁺

This pyruvic acid normally made by transamination of amino acids, is intended for conversion into glucose by gluconeogenesis. This pathway is inhibited by low concentrations of pyruvic acid, since it has been converted to lactic acid. The final result may be acidosis from lactic acid build-up and hypoglycemia from lack of glucose synthesis.

2. Synthesis of Lipids:

Excess NADH may be used as a reducing agent in two pathways–one to synthesize glycerol (from a glycolysis intermediate) and the other to synthesis fatty acids. As a result, heavy drinkers may initially be overweight.

3. Electron Transport Chain:

The NADH may be used directly in the electron transport chain to synthesize ATP as a source of energy. This reaction has the direct effect of inhibiting the normal oxidation of fats in the fatty acid spiral and citric acid cycle. Fats may accumulate or acetyl CoA may accumulate with the resulting production of ketone bodies. Accumulation of fat in the liver can be alleviated by secreting lipids into the blood stream. The higher lipid levels in the blood may be responsible for heart attacks.

CHAPTER TWO

TOXIC EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

2.1 ALCOHOL AND LIVER DAMAGE

Chronic heavy drinking can cause the liver to become fatty. Fat deposits in the liver block the liver cells from their blood supply, depriving them of oxygen and other nutrients, eventually killing them. As the name implies, the liver performs so many vital functions that we cannot live without it. The liver filters all of the blood in our bodies, breaking down and eliminating toxins, converting excess blood sugar to glycogen, and many other crucial functions. When liver cells die from lack of fresh blood, they are replaced with scar tissue, which can’t perform the functions of a liver cell – a condition is called cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis, the main liver affliction of many alcohol abusers, results in a multitude of health problems as well as reduced ability to tolerate alcohol. Genetic make-up can play a big role in a drinker’s susceptibility to this condition. For instance, some alcohol users develop symptoms of cirrhosis after just a few years of consuming 3 to 4 drinks a day, while other heavy drinkers never suffer from this potential killer. Warning signs of cirrhosis include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and the whites of the eyes), fatigue, and a swelling of the abdomen and lower extremities.

2.2 ALCOHOL AND THE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant. It acts at many sites, including the reticular formation, spinal cord, cerebellum and cerebral cortex, and on many neurotransmitter systems. Alcohol is a very small molecule and is soluble in “lipid” and water solutions. Because of these properties, alcohol gets into the bloodstream very easily and also crosses the blood brain barrier. Some of the neurochemical effects of alcohol are:

• Increased turnover of norepinephrine and dopamine
• Decreased transmission in acetylcholine systems
• Increased transmission in GABA systems
• Increased production of beta-endorphin in the hypothalamus

Chronic drinking can lead to dependence and addiction to alcohol and to additional neurological problems. Typical symptoms of withholding alcohol from someone who is addicted to it are shaking (tremors), sleep problems and nausea. More severe withdrawal symptoms include hallucinations and even seizures.

2.3 EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN

Chronic alcohol use can:

• Damage the frontal lobes of the brain
• Cause an overall reduction in brain size and increase in the size of the ventricles

Schematic drawing of the human brain, showing regions vulnerable to alcoholism-related abnormalities.

2.3.1 FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME

Drinking during pregnancy can lead to a range of physical, learning, and behavioral effects in the developing brain, the most serious of which is a collection of symptoms known as fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Children with FAS may have distinct facial features (see illustration). FAS infants also are markedly smaller than average. Their brains may have less volume (i.e., microencephaly). And they may have fewer numbers of brain cells (i.e., neurons) or fewer neurons that are able to function correctly, leading to long-term problems in learning and behavior.

2.3.2 WERNICLE-KORSAKOFF SYNDROME

Up to 80 percent of alcoholics have a deficiency in thiamine, and some of these people will go on to develop serious brain disorders such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). WKS is a disease that consists of two separate syndromes, a short-lived and severe condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy and a long-lasting and debilitating condition known as Korsakoff’s psychosis.

The symptoms of Wernicke’s encephalopathy include mental confusion, paralysis of the nerves that move the eyes (i.e., oculomotor disturbances), and difficulty with muscle coordination. For example, patients with Wernicke’s encephalopathy may be too confused to find their way out of a room or may not even be able to walk. Many Wernicke’s encephalopathy patients, however, do not exhibit all three of these signs and symptoms

Approximately 80 to 90 percent of alcoholics with Wernicke’s encephalopathy also develop Korsakoff’s psychosis, a chronic and debilitating syndrome characterized by persistent learning and memory problems. Patients with Korsakoff’s psychosis are forgetful and quickly frustrated and have difficulty with walking and coordination (17). Although these patients have problems remembering old information (i.e., retrograde amnesia), it is their difficulty in “laying down” new information (i.e., anterograde amnesia) that is the most striking. For example, these patients can discuss in detail an event in their lives, but an hour later might not remember ever having the conversation.

2.3.3 BLACKOUTS AND MEMORY LAPSES

Alcohol can produce detectable impairments in memory after only a few drinks and, as the amount of alcohol increases, so does the degree of impairment. Large quantities of alcohol, especially when consumed quickly and on an empty stomach, can produce a blackout, or an interval of time for which the intoxicated person cannot recall key details of events, or even entire events.

• Drinkers who experience blackouts typically drink too much and too quickly, which causes their blood alcohol levels to rise very rapidly. College students may be at particular risk for experiencing a blackout, as an alarming number of college students engage in binge drinking. Binge drinking, for a typical adult, is defined as consuming five or more drinks in about 2 hours for men, or four or more drinks for women

2.4 CARDIOMYOPATHY

Large-quantity consumption of alcohol can lead to alcoholic cardiomyopathy, commonly known as “holiday heart syndrome.” Alcoholic cardiomyopathy presents in a manner clinically identical to idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy, involving hypertrophy of the musculature of the heart that can lead to a form of cardiac arrythmia. These electrical anomales, represented on an EKG, often vary in nature, but range from nominal changes of the PR, QRS, or QT intervals to paroxsysmal episodes of ventricular tachycardia. The pathophysiology of alcoholic cardiomyopathy has not been firmly identified, but certain hypotheses cite an increased secretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine, increased sympathetic output, or a rise in the level of plasma free fatty acids as possible mechanisms.

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CHAPTER THREE

THERAPEUTIC EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL

This section explains the beneficiary effects of moderate alcohol consumption

MODERATION

Medical researchers generally describe moderation as one to three drinks per day. It appears that consuming less than about half a drink per day is associated with only very small health benefits. Four or five drinks may be moderate for large individuals but excessive for small or light people. Because of their generally smaller size and other biological differences, the typical woman should generally consume 25 to 30 percent less than the average man. And, of course, recovering alcoholics, those with any adverse reactions to alcohol, and those advised against drinking by their physicians should abstain.

3.1 MENTAL FUNCTIONING

Older people who drink in moderation generally suffer less mental decline than do abstainers, another study finds.

Over a thousand persons age 65 and older in Pennsylvania were studied over a period of seven years. Their mental functioning was measured at the beginning of the study and then periodically every two years thereafter. The study took into consideration such factors as age, sex, education, depression, smoking, general mental status.

Overall, light and moderate drinkers experienced less mental decline than did non-drinkers. These findings are consistent with other research.

Alcohol might lead to better mental function by improving cardiovascular health, in turn leading to better blood circulation in the brain. It might also have a beneficial effect on the neurotransmitters or chemical messengers in the brain.

The study adds to the growing evidence that drinking in moderation helps reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. It was funded with grants from the National Institute on Aging and published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

3.2 MEMORY AND THINKING

Women who consume alcohol moderately on a daily basis are about 20% less likely than abstainers to experience poor memory and decreased thinking abilities, according to recent research. The senior author of the study explains that “Women who consistently were drinking about one-half to one drink per day had both less cognitive impairment as well as less decline in their cognitive function compared to women who didn’t drink at all.”

Researchers at Harvard School of Public Health and Brigham and Women’s Hospital analyzed data from 12,480 women age 70 to 81 who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study beginning in 1980.The study was twice as large as any earlier study and also investigated the effects of different forms of alcohol on cognition and memory.

It didn’t matter whether the women drank beer, wine, or liquor (distilled spirits). The positive effects of the alcoholic beverages were all the same.

Although the study only examined women, previous research indicates that men benefit from substantially higher levels of alcohol consumption – one to two drinks each day.

3.3 PREVENTION OF STROKE

While increased levels of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) or “good” cholesterol clearly protects against heart disease, its role in stroke prevention has not yet been extensively documented. New findings published in The Journal of the American Medical Association add to the growing evidence that HDL protects against stroke.

Dr. Ralph Sacco of Columbia University and colleagues compared levels of HDL, LDL and triglycerides in over 500 patients who had experienced strokes with those of about 900 individuals of similar age and race who had never experienced strokes.

Only high HDL level was found to be a predictor of lower stroke risk, especially among older people. Moreover, increased levels of HDL were even linked with fewer strokes among people with high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. And the higher the HDL level, the greater the protection against risk.

Stroke or “brain attack” is a major health problem with few therapies. Therefore, more emphasis needs to be placed on prevention, according to Dr. Sacco. He explains that “Physical activity, healthy diet, and moderate alcohol consumption, as well as medicines, are sone of the ways that HDL can be increased.

3.4 REDUCE RISK OF ALZHEMER’S DISEASE

Another study has found evidence that elderly people who drink lightly or moderately (less than two drinks per day) are less likely to develop Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

The study examined over 400 people who were at least 75 years old and tracked their health for a period of six years. Researchers found that drinkers were only half as likely to develop dementia as similarly-aged abstainers from alcohol . Abstainers were defined as people who consumed less than one drink of alcohol per week.

The lead researcher pointed out that light to moderate drinking is associated with reduced risk of atherosclerosis, cardiac, and cerebrovascular diseases. Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia have been linked with these diseases. Therefore, it’s logical that anything reducing cardic and cerebrovascular disease would also help prevent congnitive impairment and dimentia.

3.5 REDUCED DEMANTIA RISK

Drinking alcohol (beer, wine or liquor) in moderation is one of the strategies that can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in later life.

That’s the conclusion of researchers from the School of Aging Studies at the University of South Florida (Drs. Ross Andel and Tiffany Hughes) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (Dr. Michael Crowe). They carefully analyzed the existing research to identify how dementia can be reduced.

Abstaining from alcohol and abusing alcohol are both risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia.

Reducing the risk of dementia would help contain health care costs and reduce the emotional burden of care giving. It would also promote enhanced wellness and quality of later life.

The study is published in the inaugural issue of Aging Health.

3.6 HYPERTENSION OR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

A Harvard University study found the lowest levels of hypertension among young adults who consumed one to three drinks per day.

A study of alcohol consumption and subsequent high blood pressure for eight years among over 7,000 women found that those who consumed an average of about half a drink a day had a 15% lower chance of developing high blood pressure than did women who abstained from alcohol. This is very important because it’s one of the few risk factors over which a person has control.

3.7 PROSTATE ENLARGEMENT

Consuming alcoholic drinks daily reduces risk of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) or enlarged prostate. Consuming 3 or more alcoholic drinks per day reduces risk 33% compared to alcohol abstainers or teetotalers.

3.8 IMPROVE LUNG FUNCTION

Research has found that alcohol consumption of up to six drinks of beer, wine or liquor each day reduces the risk of lung disease and poor lung function or breathing problems, according to a large study of over 178,000 members of Kaiser Permanente health plan.

3.9 KIDNEY CANCER

The moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine or spirits) appears to lower the risk of developing kidney cancer about 40% according to a report in the British Journal of Cancer of a large population-based case-control study of adult Swedish men and women without previously diagnosed renal cell cancer.

3.10 CORONARY VASCULAR DISEASE

Moderate drinking has been found to reduce the risk of angina pectoris. In heart attack patients, treated with alcohol, the tissues affected by low blood flow are healthier and stronger, than those who receive no alcohol, because of alcohol’s positive effects on artery walls. Drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation may help patients recover from coronary stenting, as healing appears to be promoted by its anti-inflammitory effects.

3.11 PERIPHERAL ARTERIAL DISEASE

“Moderate alcohol consumption appears to decrease the risk of PAD in apparently healthy men. In a large population-based study, moderate alcohol consumption was inversely associated with peripheral arterial disease in women but not in men. Residual confounding by smoking may have influenced the results. Among nonsmokers an inverse association was found between alcohol consumption and peripheral arterial disease in both men and women.

CHAPTER FOUR

THE WAY FORWARD

Here is a section of an interview with Dr Heath

“Dr. Hanson–

You raise a significant point: what people think and believe about alcohol influences their drinking behavior. Could you elaborate?

Dr. Heath–

Yes. Expectations — what people expect alcohol either to do to or for them — influence how they behave when drinking. There is overwhelming cross-cultural evidence that people learn how to be affected by drink — how they are to feel and act. Additionally, numerous experiments conducted under strictly controlled conditions (double-blind, with placebos) on a wide range of subjects and in different cultures have demonstrated that both mood and actions are affected far more by what people think they have drunk than by what they have actually drunk. That is, when people consume a non-alcoholic beverage that they think contains alcohol, then they tend to become “intoxicated.” But when they consume an alcoholic beverage that they think is non-alcoholic, they tend to act “sober.”

Furthermore, if people think that drinking leads to violence, then they tend to become violent when drinking. If they think that it makes people sexy, they tend to become amorous. And if they think that alcohol disinhibits, then they tend to become disinhibited when drinking. Because behavior reflects expectations, a society gets the kind of intoxicated behavior that it expects of intoxicated people.”

Hence a way forward to those who cannot consume alcohol in moderation is alcohol free drinks with alcohol flavors. And non alcoholic beverages with alcohol for abstainers.

PREPARATION OF ALCOHOL-FREE DRINK WITH YEAST AROMA

To prepare alcohol-free drinks with a yeast aroma, such as alcohol-free beer, an aqueous starting liquid containing nutrients and/or flavor substances is used. The starting liquid can be prepared by mixing a nutrient and/or flavor substance concentrate with water. A yeast is removed from a fermentation process and is freed from the fermented liquid. The starting liquid and the yeast are brought into contact with one another, and in particular at such low temperatures that virtually no alcoholic fermentation occurs. The starting liquid and the yeast are left in contact with one another until the aroma substances of the yeast have diffused from the cell into the liquid and the yeast has exerted its reducing effect.

CHAPTER FIVE

CONCLUSIONS

Consuming alcohol in moderation is associated with better health and greater longevity than is either abstaining or drinking heavily.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

DOES ALCOHOL HAVE NUTRITIONAL VALUE?

By David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

It’s often said that alcohol has “empty calories” and no nutritional value.

That’s technically true but very misleading. That’s because no one drinks pure alcohol — they consume alcoholic beverages. And alcoholic beverages not only have nutritional value, but they have little or no fat carbohydrates (carbs), cholesterol, or sodium (salt). In addition, alcoholic drinks tend to have fewer calories than most non-alcoholic drinks.

Although most alcohol beverages contain fewer calories than most non-alcohol beverages, some people are still concerned about gaining weight from consuming them. However, numerous scientific research studies have demonstrated that consuming alcohol tends not to increase weight and, among women, it is often associated with slight losses in weight

DOES DRINKING ALCOHOL KILL BRAIN CELLS?

By David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

The idea that alcohol kills brain cells has long been promoted. The early temperance writers made this assertion and also insisted that the alcohol in their blood could cause “drunkards” to catch fire and burn alive. This combustion argument against drinking was dropped long ago but many anti-alcohol writers continue to promote the idea that even moderate drinking causes brain cells to die.

Scientific medical research has actually demonstrated that the moderate consumption of alcohol is associated with better cognitive (thinking and reasoning) skills and memory than is abstaining from alcohol. Moderate drinking doesn’t kill brain cells but helps the brain function better into old age. Studies around the world involving many thousands of people report this finding.

Of course, years of alcohol abuse can cause serious neurological damage, including Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Harm can be done to message-carrying dendrites on neurons in the cerebellum, a part of the brain involved in learning and physical coordination. But even in such extreme cases, there’s a lack of evidence that alcohol kills brain cells.

However, abstinence after chronic alcohol abuse enables brains to repair themselves, according to new research involving rats.

During simulated alcohol “binges,” rats’ ability to create new brain cells was reduced. But after the animals no longer consumed alcohol they had a “huge burst” in new brain cell development. The study is the first to demonstrate that brain cell production can return after abstinence from alcohol abuse.

People who drink too much and are thinking about either reducing or eliminating their drinking should find these findings encouraging, although humans have not yet been tested directly for the positive brain effects.

HOW DOES ALCOHOL AND DRUGS INTERACT

A drug generally must travel through the bloodstream to its site of action, where it produces some change in an organ or tissue. Alcohol behaves similarly, traveling through the bloodstream, acting upon the brain to cause intoxication, and finally being metabolized and eliminated, principally by the liver. Alcohol can influence the effectiveness of a drug by altering its availability.

First, an acute dose of alcohol (a single drink or several drinks over several hours) may inhibit a drug’s metabolism by competing with the drug for the same set of metabolizing enzymes. This interaction prolongs and enhances the drug’s availability, potentially increasing the patient’s risk of experiencing harmful side effects from the drug.

Second, in contrast, chronic (long-term) alcohol ingestion may activate drug-metabolizing enzymes, thus decreasing the drug’s availability and diminishing its effects. After these enzymes have been activated, they remain so even in the absence of alcohol, affecting the metabolism of certain drugs for several weeks after cessation of drinking. Thus, a recently abstinent chronic drinker may need higher doses of medications than those required by nondrinkers to achieve therapeutic levels of certain drugs.

Third, enzymes activated by chronic alcohol consumption transform some drugs into toxic chemicals that can damage the liver or other organs.

Fourth, alcohol can magnify the inhibitory effects of sedative and narcotic drugs at their sites of action in the brain. To add to the complexity of these interactions, some drugs affect the metabolism of alcohol, thus altering its potential for intoxication and the adverse effects associated with alcohol consumption.

REFERENCE

Antilla, Tiia, et al. Alcohol drinking in middle age and subsequent risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in old age: a prospective population based study. British Medical Journal, 2004, 329

Ganguli, M., et al. Alcohol consumption and cognitive function in late life: A longitudinal community study. Neurology, 2005, 65, 1210-12-17.

Stampfer, M.J., et al. Effects of moderate alcohol consumption on cognitive function in women. New England Journal of Medicine, 2005, 352, 245-253;

Heslam, Jessica. Women age better with a fine wine: Study: Alcohol helps memory. Boston Herald, January 20, 2005; Stein, Rob. Study: Moderate drinking good for cognitive health. Washington Post, January 20, 2005.

Huang, W., et al. Alcohol consumption and incidence of dementia in a community sample aged 75 years and older

USF researchers focus on strategies to reduce dementia risks. University of South Florida report, August 9, 2005

Statistic from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Addiction, Alcohol Alert, 58:1-4, 2002

NIAAA, National institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, number 63 of Oct 2004

Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating

Journal of the American Medical Association

American Heart Association’s journal

Research work by Dwight B. Heath, Ph.D. and by David J. Hanson, Ph. D.

Presented by

Che Elvis

University of Buea