Talk:Short-term effects of alcohol

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Contents

[edit] "Alcohol gives you AID's"

Is there a citation for that? 71.198.36.27 21:27, 27 March 2007 (UTC)


[edit] MERGE!!

THIS ARTICLE MUST BE MERGED WITH http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_consumption_and_health helloooo


[edit] Prose

Is there something we could all work towards in shaping the prose and form of this article? It is clear there have been multiple editors chopping in and out text; lack of transitions, clear structure, and a lot of hyperbole in some areas. I think this article could benefit most from a healthy outline and a re-structure. BlackWolf 15:45, 30 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Learning / Social effects

hmblahblahblah. This article writes nothing on the effects of learning/culture upon alcohol symptoms use. How much "euphoria" and "lack of inhibition" there is is very culture-dependent. There were plenty of psychological studies in the sixties which compared alcohol to placebos, and found that most, if not all of the reported personality/mood-altering effects were products of user expectation. This is also the case with many other drugs, for instance khat in the Somalian culture. Vintermann 14:05, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] blackouts

as a result of doing some research on blacking out, i added a portion on blackouts. im not a huge wikipedian so i hope it went in the right spot, cited correctly, etc... hope it works out! cheers!

[edit] Factual innacuracy: brain cell death

The part that says that alcohol kills brain cells due to increased calcium levels is wrong: the truth is more complicated and in fact, the damage is mostly not permanent. I'll change the article to reflect this. Operator link 01:39, 14 August 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Insects are animals

I deleted the word "insect" from animal and insect models. Insects are animals as well.

[edit] The neutrality and factual accuracy of this article is questionable

Many studies used as sources do not disclose or consider proxy variables (unapparent variables that significantly affect the outcome than the claimed causative variables of the study), so many of the "facts" are incorrect. For example, many studies put ex-drinkers and lifetime abstainers into one group, which makes the "abstainer" group less healthy overall.

There are a number of revent studies that specifically exclude ex-drinkers from the lifetime abstinence groups and still report significant differences in mortality; c.f. Tolvanen, et al. 2005. Mnc4t 02:12, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

In addition, sources and facts from this article have been removed by unregistered people. One source in particular is Alcohol -- Health Benefit or Hazard?. -Usernamefortonyd

Why not just edit the article to reflect this? --Guinnog 18:28, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
They'd just revert the page. And I think it's Wikipedia policy to discuss before editing anyway. -Usernamefortonyd
Only if the edit is a controversial. Pop it up there, and if I like it I'll support you against "them". Who do you think will revert it? Has there been an edit-war here? --Guinnog 18:40, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
I'm taking down the tag; feel free to restore it if there is any good reason to do so. --Guinnog 14:15, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

"Some people have also reported to have been hiccuping for extended periods of time due to homosexual attraction to Germans." This cannot be right, ok to delete? --blackphiber

[edit] Hormonal Effects

I have read that alchoholic beverages have the effect of increasing the amount of estrogen in males. Can anybody confirm this? Thanks --Aled D 19:44, 9 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol Poisoning

It seems like the "alcohol poisoning" article has been merged with this one. Don't you think it would be better if it had its own article. It would be more of a benefit to public health if the alcohol poisioning article had a brief rundown of alcohol's effects and a recomendation to tale anyone that you think is alcohol poisoned to a hospital immediatly. I can imagine a group of heavily inebraited people seaching wikipedia for alcohol poisioning becasue they are worried about a buddy who has not moved- etc. I think it would be good for them to have a direct source where they no not have to go browsing through alcohol's effects in that situation.

I agree completely with whomever wrote that above here. I just wanted to know how to tell if a person is suffering from alcohol poisoning in case I ever need to take one of my buddies to the hospital.

I note that the link to Alcohol poisoning in the second paragraph simply directs back to this same article. While I can accept that Alcohol Poisoning may redirect to this article from the top level (though I agree with the sentiment for it to be a unique entry), self-referencing links are pointless and frustrating. I am removing it. - Tenmiles 18:20, 20 May 2007 (UTC)


I think this is correct because it will make your heart and brain go dumber and mess up ur petoy

[edit] East Asians

The section that mentions East Asian people having a genetic fault when it comes to properly absorbing alcohol is fake. I checked the source it uses and it is a fake site. This section needs to be edited to remove this. Flufybumblebee

It's true that the sources cited aren't very good ones... the first one appears to be a medical student's webpage made up to look like the new york times. But it is true that there are genetic differences that contribute to intoxicating effects of alcohol, and that there is an allele that occurs (either exclusively or most frequently, I'm not sure) within East Asian populations that removes the "blush response" to alcohol and causes differences in behavioral responses to alcohol. I know Craig Nagoshi at Arizona State has done work related to this. Delmonte 07:13, 9 January 2006 (UTC)

I put the sections on effects of alcohol from the articles alcoholic beverage and drunkenness in here but it still need to be cleaned up and merged properly. Fuelbottle | Talk

Thanks for that. Is it possible to get a chart or other such explanation of how much alcohol it takes a person to reach specific blood alcohol levels, and how severe intoxications those equate to? --Kizor 21:09, 13 October 2005 (UTC)
Here is one http://ncadi.samhsa.gov/nongovpubs/bac-chart/, but don't take it too seriously, it only takes weight and sex into consideration but other factors such as meal intake can cause alchol uptake to be significantly different from this chart. There are also methods for calculating estimates of blood alchol concentration such as http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/alcohol/bacreport.html, but it has been shown to be pretty inaccurate.

[edit] Pleasurable nature

"the euphoric effects of ethanol are probably due to its causing the release of endorphins, the body's natural response to pleasurable activity"

This circular argument is meaningless. Anyone care to suggest a replacement before I remove it? TomViza 10:30, 4 November 2005 (UTC)


What's wrong with it? User:Matteo2000

Remove it.

"endorphins are the body's response to pleasure" -> "alcohol causes endorphin release" -> "alcohol is pleasurable"

It just doesn't follow. Or if a purely logical argument isn't what you want, try looking at it another way:

Certainly endorphins are present during pleasurable activities, but describing them as the *cause* of pleasure is not right - I don't mean to say that that they are certainly the *effect* of pleasure, but perhaps it's better to say endorphins are /how/ you feel pleasure, but /why/ you do remains at question. In general I would say that you can feel and discuss pleasure without knowlege of endorphins. TomViza 16:01, 30 December 2005 (UTC)


If I may inject what I know about the subject matter here, alcohol triggers the release of dopamine and endorphins in the brain. (How and why it does this is still being studied.) When it does this, it creates euphoria. Normally, the brain releases endorphins as painkillers and dopamine as a "pleasure reward" for doing things necessary for survival (eating, reproduction, etc.) Alcohol, obviously, is not necessary for survival, but it somehow artificially causes dopamine and endorphins to be released anyway. (I've edited the article to reflect this.) --Hnsampat 18:31, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I think I can shed some light on this. Your body released endorphins when you perform tasks that have a poor efficiency quotient in and of themselves (more effort than they're worth), but which provide long-term survival benefit. Things in this category include sex, exercise, fighting, and gambling. The endorphins do many things, one of which is the release of dopamine which give us the pleasurable feeling. Another thing they seem to do is to reinforce the recently fired neurons, making them "easier" to fire later, encouraging people to believe that the behavior that they just engaged in (sex, exercise, whatever) is a good thing for you that you should do again.
This came to light in the Finnish studies where they made the connection between opiate addiction and alcoholism. Endorphin = endogenous morphine. Morphine acts like a synthetic endorphin, teaching your brain that shooting up is something that's good for you. Alcoholism is similar, except that the endorphin is produced naturally as part of the body's reaction to alcohol as opposed to being introduced through a syringe. Robert Rapplean 22:22, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Added

I added a table on the BAC of a person and its effects. Thomas27

[edit] Merge and/or rename?

It seems to me that having two separate articles, this one and Alcohol consumption and health, is a bit odd. Seeing as the other needs to be wikified anyway, I suggest a merge.

Can we just rename to "Alcohol consumption"? The health implications are obvious. My point is: we also need a catagory, ideally with the same name as the page. People need a category name that is easy to remember and type. "Alcohol consumption" is fairly clear. -- Fplay 09:04, 17 December 2005 (UTC)

I think that Alcohol expectancies is a suitably large and separate enough topic to warrant it's own article.

However, I think that Alcohol consumption and health and this article have almost the same topic, and should perhaps be merged, apart from that that the resulting article would be too long.

A better idea, IMO, is to merge the content, but split it into two articles, one on the short term effects (motor skills, social aspects, hangover etc) which would mostly come from this article, and another on the long term effects, (liver damage etc) which are discussed more in Alcohol consumption and health.

The first article partly overlaps with drunkenness but would have a more medical and less socialogical tone.

The names Short-term effects of alcohol and Long-term effects of alcohol are ok, but not great. what do you suggest?

As far as a category title goes, I think "Alcohol consumption" is fine, but I would have a short page with just a few links at that address.

TomViza 16:01, 30 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] shrinking brain

In the Hangover section:

Dehydration causes the brain to shrink away from the skull slightly. This triggers pain sensors on the outside surface of your brain which causes the headache.

Really? This was also added to the Hangover article (diff) by the same IP address. —alxndr (t) 21:39, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

Not to mention the fact that the outside surface of the brain has no pain receptors. That is how it is possible to undergo brain surgery while remaining awake and free from pain. This has been stated many times by doctors performing such surgeries. --68.46.76.144 18:17, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

I say this section should be removed, as it cites no sources and it seems spurious. I guess I'll remove it then. GBMorris 01:26, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I think this is true. I was taught at medical school that the outer coverings of the brain (the meninges) and the brain itself do indeed lack pain receptors. However, the meninges are thought to have stretch receptors (mechanoreceptors), which fire when the brain shrinks suddenly due to the effect of dehydration, and cause the sensation of pain. This is the same reason that acute meningitis, brain tumours or any other cause of raised intracranial pressure may also cause severe headache. 82.32.8.192 11:30, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Carcinogen

What does "small amount" and "large amount" mean? I remember reading from somewhere that because of carcinogenic effects the alcohol consupmtion would be limited for one spoonful per day for adults, if alcohol was treated with same standards as other chemicals --128.214.200.176 09:00, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol kills brain cells wrong

Pure alcohol is capable of killing brain cells, but we never reach high enough concentrations to do so, instead it damages dendrites, slows brain communication. And damage done is mostly reversible.

http://www.wonderquest.com/BrainCells.htm http://www.linuxlots.com/~fawcett/buzz-excerpt.html http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041108015734.htm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4496727.stm Barnetto 16:22, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Brain cell death from alcohol is a fairly common subject in popular culture, I think the subsection about this needs a lot of expansion. PeepP 17:25, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

It is written in the first sentence that alcohol is potent. It's considered to be one of the least potent drugs out there. Although a large physiological effect can be exerted by ethanol, one would need to consume amounts that would kill with any other drug. 300mL of wine is already 50g of ethanol. Acetaminophen'll do you in at that dose. This is not to mention actually potent drugs like warfarin and digoxin. unsigned

I think that the word "potent" refers to the strength of the psychoactive effects produced by alcohol. It is true that you have to consume a relatively large amount in comparison to most drugs to achieve them, but you would never experience such strong psychoactive effects with even a near-lethal dose of acetominophen. -Unregistered guy

The embedded "[7]"-link <http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/HealthIssues/1103162109.html> cites the following New York Times article written by Anahad O'Connor:

"Dr. Roberta J. Pentney, a former researcher at the State University of New York at Buffalo, found that alcohol disrupts brain function in adults by damaging message-carrying dendrites on neurons in the cerebellum, a structure involved in learning and motor coordination. This reduces communication between neurons, alters their structure and causes some of the impairment associated with intoxication. It does not kill off entire cells, however." This is its proquest abstract JohnJohn 05:03, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] further reading and disclaimer added to BAC effects on human body

added: further reading links, and a note to the BAC effects section, due to the percentages being just a rough estimate and not a definitive value.

--130.194.13.102 09:58, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Self-Contradictory error in the Intoxication section

It says: " in large doses it causes drunkenness, generally at a blood ethanol content of about 0.1%. At higher concentrations, alcohol causes intoxication, coma and death". this means that a lower dose will cause drunkness and a higher than that dose will cause intoxication, which suggests that Drunkness and Intoxication are 2 diffrent things. However, when i click the link to "Intoxication", i'm redirected to a page called Drunkness, which suggests that these 2 actually ARE the same... this is obviously Self-Contradictory...!

[edit] "Moderate doses"-section

The second paragraph starts with the sentence "A well-known side effect of alcohol is lowering inhibitions." But this only occurs when it is culturally accepted to lose inhibitions. Shouldn't it be made more clear that this is a social, not chemichal, phenomenon?

U a lier Con Master 22:17, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

"Excessive doses Excessive doses are generally volumes tht cause short- or long-term health effects." Change "tht" to that. Why is this entry locked?

[edit] Could somebody PLEASE make this addition somewhat decent?

"according to ISBN 83-200-1415-8 , page 27 alcohol also have strong effect inhibiting Growth_hormone release , thru acting on Growth_hormone_Releasing_Hormone . Experiments performed by Lazicka-Frelek and coworkers (1984) show that Growth_hormone release peak during deep sleep was completely inhibited (after 24h after ethanol ingestion - 1mg/kg of body weight). In following days, 2nd and 3rd Growth_hormone peak was present, but still too low to be considered normal. Thus they concluded Ethanol abandons Circadian_rhythm of Growth_hormone release for 3 days. As hypoglycemia normally would normally increase release of Growth_hormone this effect is especially devasting for organs which rely on this hormone for regeneration, like liver."

This was/is under the Action on the Brain section, and is the most unprofessional paragraph I've read in a relatively scientific article in a while. Any rewriting would be much appreciated.


[edit] Effects On Sexual Activity

http://www.jrussellshealth.com/alcmen.html That's a website with information and cited sources. I think it's important to include that alcohol kills sperm, can affect your ability to have/maintain an erection, etc. or to at least present the arguments.

[edit] Dehydration?

Article currently says: "It is impossible to replenish the body's fluids using only conventional alcoholic beverages. As these amounts of alcohol are consumed, the diuretic effect causes the body to lose more water than is contained in the beverage." Is this true? I'm guessing so, but there are things that seem to contradict this. Like in some parts of England they say, people drank alcohol because the water was too dirty. Or the colonial United States drinking culture, where alcohol reigned and I doubt these people drank glasses of water with their beer. If it has such a dehydration effect, how did these people survive and live decently in the past? Peoplesunionpro 02:35, 10 September 2006 (UTC)

Well, eventually I think they would build up a level of tolerance to the alcohol and increased ability to break it down, so they would not experience the dehydrating effects to a great extent, and therefore receive an overall gain in body fluid. Are there really any cultures out there that drink nothing but beer though? That seems incredibly unhealthy. -Unregistered guy

[edit] "Action on the Brain" section edits

OK, this section had some pretty bad errors, typos and syntactical problems, so I'm removing everything but the first paragraph of this section from the article, and placing it here for cleanup/posterity.

The CNS (Central Nervous System) depressant effect likely is due to ethanol's acting on the [[BK channel]]s. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15374666] A BK channel is a [[calcium]] dependent [[potassium]] channel.  Ethanol potentiates the activity of BK channels, which reduces the excitability of the neuron. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=14675531&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum]  It has been known to act on [[GABA]] receptors, but this is probably just a secondary effect from activation of the BK channels. Its effect on GABA receptors can cause [[Anterograde amnesia]], similar to [[benzodiazepines]] such as [[diazepam]]. [http://www.psych.ndsu.nodak.edu/nawrot/Courses/465Projects06/Alcohol/Pg.3.htm] GABA is an inhibitory [[neurotransmitter]], meaning it acts to slow down or inhibit nerve impulses. Ethanol increases the effectiveness of GABA acting through GABA<sub><small>A</small></sub> receptors. When used over a long time, ethanol changes the number and type of GABA receptors, and this is thought to be the cause of the violent withdrawal effects of alcoholics.

[[Ethanol]] also interferes with synaptic firing and thus, disrupts brain functions [http://www.wonderquest.com/BrainCells.htm], which is why one of the effects of hangover is lowered intellectual capacity. The effect is caused by an increased concentration of intracellular calcium, which overstimulates neurons and causes them to lose their end segments (which are responsible for I/O operations in neurons). The effect, however, is temporary [http://www.wonderquest.com/BrainCells.htm]. 
Alcohol does not kill brain cells when drunk [http://www.linuxlots.com/~fawcett/buzz-excerpt.html],[http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/HealthIssues/1103162109.html] because at the concentrations which are typically reached when alcoholic drinks are consumed (~0.1%) it is incapable of permanently harming neurons. At higher concentrations (~50%), ethanol is highly toxic to most living organisms (which is why it can be used as a disinfectant). However, loss of consciousness and death would result long before these concentrations are reached in the brain.

Alcohol provokes release of dopamine in limbic system.<ref>Boileau I, Assaad JM, Pihl RO, Benkelfat C, Leyton M, Diksic M, Tremblay RE, Dagher A. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=12827641&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_Brief Alcohol promotes dopamine release in the human nucleus accumbens] ''Synapse'' 2003 Sep 15;49(4):226-31.</ref>    
[http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro98/202s98-paper1/Yamashita.html]
Dopamine activity is responsible for pleasant feelings related with alcohol, motivation to continue this activity and also influences
secretion of prolactine (Piotr Skalba, "Endokrynologia ginekologiczna", ISBN 83-200-2163-4, page 54), inhibiting its production , and secretion. (see [[Prolactin]] for more details) increased synaptic [[Dopamine]] is broken down by monoamine oxydase enzyme to [[Norepinephrine]], which may
cause agitation, anxiety and fear (see [[Norepinephrine#Role_in_attention]], though article is lacking effects on nervous system itself.)

Dopamine and norepinephrine interplay is responsible for inducing psychological effect of [[Frustration]], and [[Mania]] .
Drop of [[Prolactin]] levels might be responsible with antisocial behaviour in chronic alcoholics.

According to ISBN 83-200-1415-8 , page 27,  alcohol also has a strong effect inhibiting [[Growth_hormone|Growth hormone]] release , through acting on [[Growth_hormone_Releasing_Hormone|Growth hormone Releasing Hormone]] .
Experiments performed by Lazicka-Frelek and coworkers ([[1984]]) show that [[Growth hormone|Growth_hormone]] release peak during deep sleep was completely inhibited (after 24h after [[ethanol]] ingestion - 1mg/kg of body weight). 
In following days, 2nd and 3rd [[Growth_hormone|Growth hormone]] peak was present, but still too low to be considered normal.
Thus they concluded [[Ethanol]] abandons [[Circadian_rhythm|Circadian rhythm]] of [[Growth_hormone|Growth hormone]] release for 3 days. 
As hypoglycemia normally would normally increase release of [[Growth_hormone]] this effect is especially devastating for organs which rely on this hormone for regeneration, like [[liver]].

Cheers! --NightMonkey 00:20, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alcohol poisoning is not defined

This article has three mentions of "alcohol poisoning" without explaining what it is. This is especially bad because "Alcohol Poisoning" itself redirects here. I think we need some expert to add content defining alcohol poisoning. --SpuriousQ 23:27, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Help!

Please identify specifically what needs cleanup so that it can be done. Thank you.DUI Investigator 18:37, 11 November 2006 (UTC)

I didn't put up the tag, but here are a few weaknesses of the article:
  • Throws around terms like "inebriation", "intoxication", and "drunkeness" without defining or distinguishing between them.
  • "alcohol poisoning" is redirected here and used in the article but not defined.
  • Organization is lacking. Overlap between "Effects by Dose" and "Intoxication" section. Random small sections about blackouts and hiccups.
-SpuriousQ 21:27, 12 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] Inconsistency

There appears to be an inconsistency between this article and the Drunkenness article. The latter indicates that 0.55% BAC is the point at which positive effects of alcohol begin to turn into negatives, whilst this article indicates that 0.55% is the LD50, or median lethal dose. Which is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.207.205.86 (talk • contribs) 08:25, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

People tend to feel the positive effects of alcohol as their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) rises to about .055. If they drink more and their BAC rises above that level, the negative effects of drinking increase and hangovers are more likely to occur.

0.055 is equal to 5.5%, not 55%. This should probably be amended to keep the numbering constant throughout the articles. --Grand Edgemaster Talk 17:21, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

    • On the other hand, I may not be fully correct here, since no units are stated in that article. Following the lead from the table at Blood_alcohol_concentration, I'll update the article. --Grand Edgemaster Talk 17:32, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Big, glaring omission

One of the huge, blaring, massive omissions from this article? No information on BIRTH DEFECTS. -Toptomcat 15:28, 15 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] hiccups

this was kind of sweet, but also, made up, or urban myth...

- Scientific research has proven that alcohol is also a major contributor to hiccups[citation needed]. When the body has reached its alcoholic limit, the body will use hiccups as a sign of its internal limit.

so I took it out. raining girl 15:36, 18 November 2006 (UTC)


[edit] intro: ethanol a stimulant?

"Alcohol, specifically ethanol, is a potent depressant and in smaller doses a stimulant,"

I don't think this is accurate...a drug can't be a CNS depressant AND a stimulant. I think that maybe the editor was confused and found a source that said that beer might, in small doses be a stimulant (because of the sugar in it). As there's no source, I think the part about the stimulant should be removed.

If someone finds a source, please be sure they are stating that _ethanol_ is a stimulant in small doses, and not _an alcoholic beverage_, such as beer, which may contain sugar (it's clear that something like sugar would be a CNS stimulant).

For now I'll add 'citation needed'.

Wednesday, 2006-11-22 03:53 UTC

Someone agrees and has already removed it, nice.

Wednesday, 2006-11-22 04:00 UTC

[edit] effect on women

I keep seeing references to the effect of alcohol on hormone levels.

e.g. from a BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6213686.stm

"According to medical research, testosterone - the hormone connected to male characteristics such as aggression and sex drive - rises in women by up to 50% when they get drunk. In men, it falls."

I think that if Alcohol has a significant hormonal effect on women this should be a publicized effect of the drug. I hope someone can find a good link for this information as I still cannot.

I've placed a {fact} tag on the remark about women in the article. It seems to have no basis, and at best is an old wives' tale. If there is an actual source that proves this, by all means put it in; otherwise it's gotta go. For now if there is someone who wants to untangle the horrid spelling and logic of the statement (comparing current and previous edits on the paragraph), be my guest. V-Man737 07:12, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] effects of latitude?!

the second paragraph of the Intoxication section talks about the effects of latitude, which doesn't make sense at all. A quick google search revealed no such study, nor could I find either of the two institutes mentioned in the paragraph

Sgfeingold 01:34, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, I've never thought about intoxication being based on altitude or latitude... Whoever put that there must have either totally pulled it out of thin air, or else simply couldn't find a source (as you saw yourself) for that study at the time... Perhaps a more in-depth Google search? If too long goes with that big claim not having a source, it should be taken out. V-Man737 01:47, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

Removed. Somebody's Christmas prank. Nunquam Dormio 19:44, 9 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Confusion with diabetic coma

Alcohol intoxication is actually more commonly confused with hypoglycaemic (rather than hyperglycaemic, or ketoacetotic) coma because they share many of the same symptoms - slurred speech, impaired reflexes, poor co-ordination, disinhibited behaviour (e.g. aggression) etc. eventually leading to unconsciousness if untreated. Hyperglycaemia causes different symptoms which are less easily confused. Perhaps this should be discussed too? 82.32.8.192 11:21, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Unconsciousness?

If you consume enough ethanol, would you lose consciousness or would you just vomit? Or would it depend on how quick you consume ethanol? For example: if you consume units of ethanol over a longer period of time would it result in sleepiness and loss of consciousnes? Whereas if you gulp it down fast, then you would vomit? So does it take more units of ethanol to cause unconsciousness or vomiting? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.159.45.0 (talk) 15:13, 28 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] This is a great article

Should be featured =P Leopold Stotch 19:40, 5 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Treatment of Alcohol Poisoning

Propose adding a section on the acute treatment of alcohol poisoning (activated charcoal, gastric lavage etc) -13 May 2007

[edit] Increased intoxication in hot weather

Why does ethanol intoxicates more in hot weather (or in hot environments, such as room with fireplace)? I suppose speed of metabolism is increased; is that the cause?

[edit] Appropriateness

I don't think that "To prevent hangover there are two options. Don't drink or keep drinking." (under the Hangover section) fits in an encyclopedia. Perhaps the factual content is valid, but it seems a little... sophomoric maybe?

[edit] This might be quite important

Having read this article, I seriously considered consuming a small dose of alcohol each day. I planned to do this during the evening, since I do research in mathematics, which requires me to function at 100% mentally during the day. This is an obvious way to do it, but it might also be a very bad idea:

"Alcoholic beverages are often consumed in the late afternoon (e.g., at "happy hour" or with dinner) without further consumption before bedtime. Studies show that a moderate dose1 of alcohol consumed as much as 6 hours before bedtime can increase wakefulness during the second half of sleep. By the time this effect occurs, the dose of alcohol consumed earlier has already been eliminated from the body, suggesting a relatively long-lasting change in the body's mechanisms of sleep regulation (7,8)."

from http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa41.htm

Thus consuming alcohol during the evening might interfere with sleep, AND consuming alcohol during the evening is the obvious way to do it if one is simply looking for the health benefits. So the obvious way to do it may be a bad way to do it, and this Wikipedia article needs to warn people about this - IF alcohol does indeed interfere with sleep the way the link I have provided claims.

128.101.10.220 05:37, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Removing one line and the first reference

"However, it appears that intoxicated people have much greater control over their behavior than is generally recognized. http://www2.potsdam.edu/hansondj/Controversies/1048596839.html

This source is definitely reaching. If you read the article, it ends saying that it's the persons fault not alcohol. This sentence appears to say people have much greater control, not full control as the link provides. Also there is much more research determining that one loses the ability to make good decisions under alcoholic consumption versus having full control as this article purposes. The people being tested in this article were given rewards for making good decisions. In the real world there is no rewards for not, let's say for example; drinking and drivie. Lastly I'd also like to mention that throughout the entire article, the abilities to control one's self is mentioned countless times, which contradicts this purposal. Therefore I haven chosen to delete this.

[edit] Opinions on the Article Alcohol Goes on a Health Kick posted by the New York Times

I am doing a essay on this topic and wanted to see if anybody has heard about this new trend and how they feel about it. Also to see if anybody knows where I can find more information on it. The article was posted by the New York Times if you wanted to look at it. I would appreciate all comments. Thank You

J.

[edit] Mallenby Effect

I merged the content from the page Mallenby Effect because it was a stub. It had one source that I didn't know how to catgorize. It is marked with a citation needed notice. See its old talk page Talk:Mallenby Effect —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kville105125 (talk • contribs) 20:50, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Contradicting Statements?

Under the section on Slowing, this is stated:

"GABA could also be responsible for the memory impairment that many people experience. It has been asserted that
GABA signals  interfere with the registration and consolidation stages of memory formation. As the GABA system is found in 
the hippocampus, (among other areas in the CNS), which is thought to play a large role in memory formation, this is thought 
to be possible."

And under Pharmacology, it says:

" Alcohol at high doses acts as an antagonist of the NMDA receptor, and since the NMDA receptor is involved in learning and 
memory, this action is thought to be responsible for the "memory blanks" that can occur at extremely high doses of alcohol."

I have a reference that says alcohol blocking the Ca+ channel in NMDA receptors is primarily responsible, and possibly other transmitter systems.

"Alcohol interferes with the activation of the NMDA receptor, thereby preventing the influx of calcium and the changes 
that  follow (Swartzwelder et al. 1995). This is believed to be the primary mechanism underlying the effects
of alcohol on LTP, though other transmitter systems are probably also involved (Schummers and Browning 2001)."

I'm suggesting it should be re-written, using a different source and put under one section. New Source Έρεβος 22:27, 8 December 2007 (UTC)

Sounds good to me. I'd recommend including both, explaining that NMDA-antagonism is thought to be the primary cause but GABA-modulation has also been suggested. It should also be mentioned whether or not the two theories are mutually exclusive (it doesn't seem so based on what I see here, but perhaps you've read otherwise). --Xiaphias (talk) 07:30, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Logical Error

   Under 'coma': Breathing is slower and more shallow. Heart rate drops. Death usually occurs at levels in this range.

   'Usually' implies a better than even chance; but the first paragraph states 'a concentration in the blood stream of 0.55% will kill half of those affected'.

   One of these is incorrect. I am not able to edit the page.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.73.15.135 (talk) 02:28, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
I see your point, but I think its a misunderstanding of what the article is saying. I don't think the article is saying that over %50 of the time someone has this much alcohol in his bloodstream he will die, I think it's saying that majority of the time alcohol causes death it happens when the drinker has a BAC in this range. You're right though, BAC in this range is less than %50 likely to cause death. Leopold Stotch (talk) 21:47, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

CONFUSION

"Profound Confusion" is not a good way of describing the gaps in cognition and memory that occur. Alcohol is not capable of producing true confusion, but instead produces disorientation of the type that may occur after a hypnotic dream or a blow to the head.

Similarly, social inappropriateness is typically not a genuine disregard but rather the lacking of the faculties to regard. However, this effect may be used to affect certain moods or actions in a deliberate manner. An example of the latter is use in warfare. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.171.2.179 (talk) 05:27, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] FAS picture appropriate?

A picture of an alcohol-exposed infant brain seems somewhat irrelevant to an article called "Short-term effects of alcohol". I think it would be more appropriate in an article more concerned with alcohol consumption during pregnancy. 99.236.32.23 (talk) 21:51, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lethat Dose LD:50

The second paragraph states that the median lethal concentration is 0.55%. This is incorrect. It should read 0.40%. Several of the existing citations state this, including #4 & #5. I couldn't fix this as the article has been locked. Could someone else please do this. 70.234.217.95 (talk) 22:21, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Liver Damage and Hormone Deprivation

When the liver is taxed with producing enzymes to break down the alcohol in one's system. It no longer has the time/ability to produce Testosterone (for males) and Estrogen (for females). Thus, when someone has been drinking heavily for a short period of time (i.e. 3-4 drinks daily (males) 2-3 drinks daily (females), for a year) it begins to show physically on their body. Males develop breasts and females begin to grow more hair, and have slightly lower voices.)
Also, the liver can break down .015 BAC per hour. Therefore, if you had a BAC of .090, It would take your liver 6 hours to breakdown all of the alcohol in your body.

[edit] Accidental alcohol poisoning

I was reading this article Phyllis Kaberry and I found the the she died of "accidental alcohol poisoning". Wondering what that was, through the redirect "alcohol poisoning" I reached this page where there is no mention of "one off" alcohol poisoning. Can anyone shed some light on that? Thanks. --Dia^ (talk) 15:55, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] What other causes after alcohol?

Greasy skin
Sticky hair
What else?