Hello again, %username%!
Thanks to everyone who appreciated
It was very interesting to read the comments, whatever they were, it was very interesting to answer.
I'm glad you liked the hit parade. If he didn't like it, well, I did my best.
It was the comments and activity that inspired me to write the second part.
So, I present to you another deadly ten!
Tenth place
White
Yes, I know, %username%, that now you will immediately exclaim: “Hurrah, finally chlorine, great and terrible!” But it's not like that.
Firstly, whiteness does not contain chlorine, but sodium hypochlorite. Yes, it eventually breaks down to chlorine, but it's still not chlorine.
Secondly - despite the fact that chlorine was in fact the first chemical warfare agent in the history of philanthropic mankind (it was first used in 1915 during the Battle of Ypres - yeah, it is, not mustard gas, although the name is from there), it immediately "does not gone."
The problem is that a person smells chlorine long before they get poisoned. And he runs away a little later.
Judge for yourself: the smell of chlorine will be felt by any person without sinusitis at 0,1-0,3 ppm (although they say that he also breaks through sinusitis). A concentration of 1-3 ppm is usually tolerated for no more than an hour - an unbearable burning sensation in the eyes leads to thoughts that you have a lot of important things to do, but for some reason away from here. At 30 ppm, absolutely immediately (and not in an hour) tears will run, a hysterical cough will appear. At 40-60 ppm, lung problems will begin.
Lethal is exposure to an atmosphere with a chlorine concentration of 400 ppm for half an hour. Well, or a few minutes - at a concentration of 1000 ppm.
In the First World War, they used the fact that chlorine was a little more than twice as heavy as air - and therefore they let it go across the plain, smoking the enemy out of the trenches. And there - they were already filming in the good old and tried and tested way.
Of course, if you work at a chlorine plant and you are tied up near a chlorine tank there, there is reason to worry. But to expect that you will be poisoned by chlorine when washing the toilet or due to the electrolysis of salt water is, to put it mildly, not worth it.
Well, yes, if you are still unlucky - note: there is no antidote for chlorine, they are treated with fresh air. Well, the restoration of burned tissue, of course.
Ninth place
Vitamin A - well, or in the common people retinol
Everyone remembers vitamins. Well, their benefit. Some people confuse booze and smoke with vitamins - but that's the way it is.
Grandmothers in childhood told everyone to eat apples and carrots. She told me. I just adored the old Soviet carrot puree in such small jars!
But do not confuse the formidable retinol with natural carotene (which is in melon and carrots): with excessive use of carotenes, yellowing of the palms, soles of the feet and mucous membranes is possible (by the way, I had this in my childhood!), but even in extreme cases there are no symptoms of intoxication observed.
So, the LD50 of retinol is 2 g/kg in rats that ate it. Considering that the vitamin is fat-soluble, then if you have a bite of lard, there will be less. The rats experienced loss of consciousness, convulsions, and death.
The cases with humans were more interesting: a dose of vitamin A of 25 IU/kg causes acute poisoning, and daily use of a dose of 000 IU/kg for 4000-6 months causes chronic poisoning (for reference: doctors are very difficult people to understand, and this not only because of handwriting - they consider vitamin A in IU - medical units; one unit of IU was taken 15 micrograms of retinol).
For poisoning in the case of a person, the following symptoms are characteristic: inflammation of the cornea, loss of appetite, nausea, enlarged liver, joint pain. Chronic vitamin A poisoning is observed with the regular use of high doses of the vitamin, large amounts of fish oil.
Cases of acute poisoning with a fatal outcome are possible when eating shark liver, polar bear, marine animals, husky (do not torture dogs!). Europeans have been experiencing this since at least 1597, when members of the third Barents expedition became seriously ill after eating polar bear liver.
The acute form of poisoning manifests itself in the form of convulsions, paralysis. In the chronic form of an overdose, intracranial pressure increases, which is accompanied by headache, nausea, and vomiting. At the same time, macular edema and associated visual impairment occur. Hemorrhages appear, as well as signs of hepato- and nephrotoxicity of large doses of vitamin A. Spontaneous bone fractures may occur. Excess vitamin A can cause birth defects and therefore should not exceed the recommended daily allowance, and pregnant women should not drink it at all.
To eliminate poisoning, mannitol is prescribed, which reduces intracranial pressure and eliminates the symptoms of meningism, glucocorticoids, which accelerate the metabolism of the vitamin in the liver and stabilize the lysosome membranes in the liver and kidneys. Vitamin E also stabilizes cell membranes.
So, %username%, remember: not everything useful is useful in large quantities.
Eighth place
Hardware
Certainly toxic is the ingress of an iron rod into the brain, .
But seriously, the situation with iron is very close to that with vitamin A.
Some people are prescribed iron to eliminate iron deficiency anemia. My ever-memorable grandmother always advised eating apples - they have a lot of iron (and everyone knows this bearded anecdote).
Previously, they ate iron in the literal sense - in the picture above, carbonyl iron - so they ate it: the stomach is full of hydrochloric acid, so finely dispersed iron dissolved there and that was enough.
Then they began to prescribe iron sulfates and iron lactates. The joke of iron is that it must necessarily be divalent: ferric iron cannot be found in the body, in addition, it happily precipitates at a pH above 4.
7-35 g of iron will absolutely reliably send you, %username%, to the next world. And now I'm not talking about a metal object in the right place on the body - I'm talking about iron salts. With children it is even more difficult (children are always difficult): 3 grams of iron are lethal for children under 3 years old. By the way, according to statistics, this is the most common form of accidental childhood poisoning.
The behavior of excess iron is very similar to heavy metal poisoning (and, by the way, is treated in almost the same way. Iron can accumulate in the body, like heavy metals - but with some hereditary and chronic diseases or with excessive intake from the outside. People with excess iron suffer from physical Weaknesses, weight loss, more sickness, and getting rid of excess iron is often much more difficult than eliminating iron deficiency.
In severe iron poisoning, the intestinal mucosa is damaged, liver failure develops, nausea and vomiting appear. Characterized by diarrhea and the so-called "black stool" - you get the idea. If you start - severe forms of liver damage, coma, meeting with long-dead relatives.
Seventh place
Aspirin
For some reason, now I remember all the American films in which the heroes, with a headache, directly eat packs of some kind of pills. God!
Acetylsalicylic acid or aspirin - as Felix Hoffman called it, who synthesized this life-giving product in the laboratories of Bayer AG on August 10, 1897, has an LD50 in rats at the level of 200 mg / kg. Yes, this is a lot, you can’t eat so many pills, but like any medicine, aspirin has a side effect. And they are so-so: problems with the gastrointestinal tract and swelling of tissues. However, if you still really eat aspirin, then with an acute overdose (this is when once - but the car), the mortality rate is 2%. Chronic overdose (this is when high doses - and for a long time) is often lethal, mortality is 25%, well, as with iron, chronic overdose can be especially severe in children.
In case of aspirin poisoning, acute gastric upset, confusion, psychosis, stupor, tinnitus, drowsiness are observed.
Treat like any overdose: activated charcoal, intravenous dextrose and normal saline, sodium bicarbonate, and dialysis.
Reye's syndrome deserves special attention - a rare but serious disease characterized by acute encephalopathy and fat deposits in the liver. This thing can happen when children or teenagers are given aspirin for a fever or other illness or infection. From 1981 to 1997, 1207 cases of Reye's syndrome in people under 18 were reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of these, 93% reported being ill in the three weeks prior to the onset of Reye's syndrome, most commonly with a respiratory infection, chickenpox, or diarrhea.
It looks like this:
- 5-6 days after the onset of a viral disease (with chickenpox - 4-5 days after the onset of rashes), nausea and intractable vomiting suddenly develop, accompanied by a change in mental status (varies from mild lethargy to deep coma and episodes of disorientation, psychomotor agitation).
- In children under 3 years of age, the main signs of the disease may be respiratory failure, drowsiness and convulsions, and in children of the first year of life, there is tension in the large fontanel.
- In the absence of adequate therapy, a rapid deterioration in the patient's condition is characteristic: the rapid development of coma, convulsions, respiratory arrest.
- Liver enlargement is noted in 40% of cases, but jaundice is rare.
- An increase in AST, ALT, ammonia in the blood serum of patients is characteristic.
How to avoid it? It's simple: you should not give your child aspirin if he has the flu, measles, or chickenpox. Exercise caution when prescribing acetylsalicylic acid at high temperatures in children under 12 years of age. In this situation, it is recommended to replace acetylsalicylic acid with paracetamol or ibuprofen. Seek immediate medical attention if your child develops symptoms: vomiting, severe headache, lethargy, irritability, delirium, respiratory distress, stiff arms and legs, coma.
Take care of the kids, after all, they are our heritage.
Sixth place
Carbon dioxide
Yes, we all breathe and emit carbon dioxide. And the body will not be so easy to scatter anything useful! In the air, by the way, there is about 0,04% carbon dioxide - for comparison, there is 20 times more argon in the air.
Except for you and other animals, carbon dioxide is released during full combustion and is found in all fizzy drinks - both non-alcoholic and more interesting (more on them below).
At a concentration of already 0,1% (such a content of carbon dioxide is sometimes observed in the air of megacities), people begin to feel weak, drowsy - remember how you were irresistibly drawn to yawn? With an increase to 7-10%, symptoms of suffocation develop, manifested in the form of headache, dizziness, hearing loss and loss of consciousness (symptoms similar to those of altitude sickness), these symptoms develop, depending on the concentration, over a period of several minutes up to one hour.
When air with very high concentrations of the gas is inhaled, death occurs very quickly from asphyxiation caused by hypoxia.
Inhalation of air with an increased concentration of this gas does not lead to long-term health problems. After removing the victim from an atmosphere with a high concentration of carbon dioxide, a complete recovery of health and well-being occurs quickly.
And carbon dioxide is 1,5 times heavier than air - and this must be taken into account in terms of accumulation in niches and basements.
Ventilate your room, %username%!
Fifth place
Sugar
Everyone knows what sugar looks like. About holivar - what to drink with sugar, and what - without: coffee or tea - we will not, he claimed too many lives.
In fact, sugar (more precisely, glucose) is one of the main nutritional compounds - and the only one that is absorbed by the nervous tissue. Without sugar, you won't be able to think or read this text, %username%!
However, sugar has a toxic dose - 50% of rats die when they eat sugar at 30 g / kg (don't ask how they stuffed it). I still remember the subway car in New York in 2014, where all diseases were attributed to sugar: from impotence to a heart attack. I also thought then: how did humanity survive without chemical sweeteners?
Anyway, sugar is toxic in large (as you noticed - VERY large doses). Symptoms of poisoning are relatively poor:
- Depressive state
- Gastrointestinal Disorders.
But in fact, there are quite a few people among us for whom sugar is really a poison. These are diabetics. I'm a chemist, I'm not a doctor, but I know. that diabetes is of different types, of different severity, due to different causes and treated differently. And therefore,% username%, if you noticed in yourself:
- Polyuria is an increased excretion of urine caused by an increase in the osmotic pressure of urine due to the glucose dissolved in it (normally, there is no glucose in the urine). It is manifested by frequent profuse urination, including at night.
- Polydipsia (constant unquenchable thirst) - due to significant loss of water in the urine and an increase in the osmotic pressure of the blood.
- Polyphagy is a constant insatiable hunger. This symptom is caused by a metabolic disorder in diabetes, namely the inability of cells to absorb and process glucose in the absence of insulin (starvation in abundance).
- Weight loss (especially characteristic of type XNUMX diabetes) is a common symptom of diabetes that develops despite an increased appetite of patients. Weight loss (and even exhaustion) is due to increased catabolism of proteins and fats due to the exclusion of glucose from the energy metabolism of cells.
- Secondary signs: itching of the skin and mucous membranes, dry mouth, general muscle weakness, headache, inflammatory skin lesions that are difficult to treat, visual impairment.
- go to the hospital and donate blood for sugar!
Diabetes is far from a death sentence, it can be treated, but if you don’t treat it and eat sweets, then you’re in for: heart disease, blindness, kidney damage, nerve damage, the so-called diabetic foot – google it, you’ll like it.
Fourth place
Salt
"Salt and sugar are our white enemies," right? Well, that's why salt follows sugar.
It is difficult to imagine our food without salt, and by the way, we use it solely because of personal preferences: both sodium and chlorine are abundant in products, an additional source is simply not needed.
Despite the fact that salt performs the most important function of maintaining the water-salt balance in the body, ensuring the correct functioning of almost everything - from the blood to the kidneys, 3 g / kg of a rat or 12,5 g / kg of a human can kill.
The reason is precisely the violation of this very water-salt balance, which leads to kidney failure, a sharp increase in blood pressure and death.
I don’t think that anyone is able to eat that much salt (except for a bet - well, ok, a good version of the Darwin award), however, even small “overdoses” of salt do not have the best effect: it is known that reducing salt intake to 1 teaspoon per day a day or less lowers blood pressure to 8 mm Hg. Against the backdrop of what , I don’t think that reducing salt intake is such an insignificant survival measure.
Prize trio! Third place
Caffeine
Now let's talk about drinks. Coffee, tea, cola, energy drinks - they all contain caffeine. How many cups of coffee have you drunk today? While I am writing all this - not a single one, but I really want to ...
By the way, 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine, guaranine, caffeine, mateine, methyltheobromine, theine - there is the same thing in profile, just different names, very often invented to exclaim: “What are you, there is not a single gram of caffeine in this drink - there ... “It’s completely different and much more useful!” Historically, it was like this: in 1819, the German chemist Ferdinand Runge really wanted to sleep, isolated an alkaloid, which he called caffeine (by the way, he was generally a good thing: he isolated quinine, came up with the use of chlorine as a disinfectant and began the history of aniline dyes). Then, in 1827, Oudry isolated a new alkaloid from tea leaves and named it theine. And in 1838, Jobst and G. Ya. Mulder took offense at everyone and proved the identity of theine and caffeine. The structure of caffeine was elucidated towards the end of the 1902th century by Hermann Emil Fischer, who was also the first person to artificially synthesize caffeine. He won the XNUMX Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which he received in part for this work - the fight against sleep was finally won!
50% of dogs die if they take 140 mg/kg of caffeine with food. At the same time, they experience acute renal failure, nausea, vomiting, internal hemorrhages, heart rhythm disturbances, convulsions. Unpleasant death, yes.
In humans, in small doses, caffeine has a stimulating effect on the nervous system - well, everyone tested it on themselves. With prolonged use, it can cause a weak dependence - theism.
Under the influence of caffeine, cardiac activity accelerates, blood pressure rises, mood slightly improves for about 40 minutes due to the release of dopamine, but after 3-6 hours the effect of caffeine disappears: fatigue, lethargy, and decreased ability to work.
A boring mechanism that explains the effects of caffeine.The psychostimulating effect of caffeine is based on its ability to suppress the activity of central adenosine receptors (A1 and A2) in the cerebral cortex and subcortical formations of the central nervous system. It has now been shown that adenosine plays the role of a neurotransmitter in the CNS, agonistically influencing adenosine receptors located on the cytoplasmic membranes of neurons. Excitation of type I adenosine receptors (A1) by adenosine causes a decrease in the formation of cAMP in brain cells, which ultimately leads to inhibition of their functional activity. Blockade of A1-adenosine receptors contributes to the termination of the inhibitory effect of adenosine, which is clinically manifested by an increase in mental and physical performance.
However, caffeine does not selectively block only A1-adenosine receptors in the brain, and also blocks A2-adenosine receptors. It has been proven that activation of A2-adenosine receptors in the CNS is accompanied by suppression of the functional activity of D2 dopamine receptors. Blockade of A2-adenosine receptors by caffeine helps to restore the functional activity of D2 dopamine receptors, which also contributes to the psychostimulating effect of the drug.
In short, caffeine blocks something there. As are opiates. As is LSD. So it will be addictive, but since the blockage is not so strong, and the receptors are not so vital, theism is not an addiction (although many coffee lovers will argue).
Symptoms of caffeine overeating - abdominal pain, agitation, anxiety, mental and motor agitation, confusion, delirium (dissociative), dehydration, tachycardia, arrhythmia, hyperthermia, frequent urination, headache, increased tactile or pain sensitivity, tremor or muscle twitching; nausea and vomiting, sometimes with blood; ringing in the ears, epileptic seizures (with acute overdose - tonic-clonic convulsions).
Caffeine in doses of more than 300 mg per day (including against the background of coffee abuse - more than 4 cups of natural coffee, 150 ml each) can cause anxiety, headache, tremor, confusion, and heart disorders.
In doses of 150-200 mg per kilogram of human body weight, caffeine causes death. Just like the dogs.
So, damn it, where's my coffee?
Second place
Nicotine
Everyone knows about the dangers of smoking. And about the fact that nicotine is a poison, too. But let's figure it out.
The toxicity of nicotine is associated with a sensational poisoning case in Belgium in 1850, when Count Bokarme was accused of poisoning his wife's brother. The Belgian chemist Jean Serve Stas acted as a consultant, who, in the course of a difficult analysis, not only established that the poisoning was caused by nicotine, but also developed a method for detecting alkaloids, which, with slight modifications, is still used in analytical chemistry today.
After that, nicotine was not studied and determined only by the lazy. The following is currently known.
Once nicotine enters the body, it spreads rapidly through the blood and can cross the blood-brain barrier. That is, go straight to the brain. On average, it takes 7 seconds after inhaling tobacco smoke for nicotine to reach the brain. The half-life of nicotine from the body is about two hours. The nicotine inhaled with tobacco smoke when smoking is a small fraction of the nicotine found in tobacco leaves (most of the substance is burned, sadly). The amount of nicotine absorbed by the body when smoked depends on many factors, including the type of tobacco, whether all the smoke is inhaled, and whether a filter is used. In the case of chewing tobacco and snuff, which are placed in the mouth and chewed or inhaled through the nose, the amount of nicotine entering the body is much greater than when smoking tobacco. Nicotine is metabolized in the liver by the cytochrome P450 enzyme (mainly CYP2A6, but also CYP2B6). The main metabolite is cotinine.
The effect of nicotine on the nervous system is well studied and controversial. Nicotine acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors: the protonated nitrogen atom of the pyrrolidine ring in nicotine mimics the quaternary nitrogen atom in acetylcholine, and the pyridine nitrogen atom has the character of a Lewis base, like the oxygen of the keto group of acetylcholine. At low concentrations, it increases the activity of these receptors, which, among other things, leads to an increase in the amount of the stimulating hormone adrenaline (epinephrine). The release of adrenaline leads to an increased heart rate, increased blood pressure and breathing, as well as higher blood glucose levels.
The sympathetic nervous system, acting through the splanchnic nerves on the adrenal medulla, stimulates the release of adrenaline. Acetylcholine, produced by the preganglionic sympathetic fibers of these nerves, acts on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, causing cell depolarization and calcium influx through voltage-gated calcium channels. Calcium triggers exocytosis of chromaffin granules, thereby promoting the release of adrenaline (and norepinephrine) into the blood.
Have I already hit your brain worse than nicotine? Yes? Well, then about the pleasant.
Among other things, nicotine increases dopamine levels in the pleasure center pathways in the brain. Tobacco smoking has been found to inhibit monoamine oxidase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down monoamine neurotransmitters (such as dopamine) in the brain. It is believed that nicotine itself does not suppress the production of monoamine oxidase, other components of tobacco smoke are responsible for this. The increased content of dopamine excites the pleasure centers of the brain, the same centers of the brain are responsible for the “pain threshold of the body”, therefore, the question of whether a person who smokes enjoys remains open.
Despite its strong toxicity, nicotine acts as a psychostimulant when used in small doses (eg when smoking tobacco). Nicotine's effects on mood vary. By causing the release of glucose from the liver and adrenaline (epinephrine) from the adrenal medulla, it causes excitation. From a subjective point of view, this is manifested by feelings of relaxation, calmness and liveliness, as well as a moderately euphoric state.
The use of nicotine leads to a decrease in body weight, reducing appetite as a result of stimulation of POMC neurons and an increase in blood glucose levels (glucose, acting on the satiety and hunger centers in the hypothalamus of the brain, dulls the feeling of hunger). True, an affordable, understandable and healthy diet “do not eat a lot” works even more effectively.
As we can see, the effect of nicotine is quite complex on the body. What should be extracted from this:
- Nicotine is a substance that interacts with nerve receptors
- Like many similar substances, nicotine is addictive and addictive.
By the way, patients with mental disorders have an increased addiction to smoking (do you smoke? - think about it and go to a psychiatrist: there are no healthy ones - there are underexamined ones). A large number of studies around the world claim that patients with schizophrenia are more likely to smoke (20 different countries studied a total of 7593 patients with schizophrenia, of which 62% were smokers). As of 2006, in the US, 80% or more of people with schizophrenia smoke, compared to 20% of the general population of non-smokers (according to the NCI). There are a number of hypotheses regarding the causes of this addiction, explaining it as the desire to resist the symptoms of the disorder, and the desire to resist the negative effects of antipsychotics. According to one hypothesis, nicotine itself disrupts the psyche.
Nicotine is extremely toxic to cold-blooded animals. Acts as a neurotoxin, causing paralysis of the nervous system (respiratory arrest, cardiac arrest, death). The average lethal dose for humans is 0,5-1 mg / kg, for rats - 140 mg / kg through the skin, for mice - 0,8 mg / kg intravenously and 5,9 mg / kg when administered intraperitoneally. Nicotine is poisonous to some insects, as a result of which it was previously widely used as an insecticide, and nicotine derivatives, such as, for example, imidacloprid, continue to be used in the same capacity.
Long-term use can cause diseases and dysfunctions such as hyperglycemia, arterial hypertension, atherosclerosis, tachycardia, arrhythmia, angina pectoris, coronary heart disease, heart failure.
In fact, the toxicity of nicotine is practically nothing compared to the rest of the beauty, namely:
- Tars during smoking - contribute to the development of cancer, including cancer of the lungs, tongue, larynx, esophagus, stomach, etc.
- Unhygienic smoking contributes to the development of gingivitis and stomatitis.
- Products of incomplete combustion (carbon monoxide) - well, it’s clear, read my previous opus
- Tar deposits in the lungs - smoker's morning cough, bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer.
At the moment, none of the methods of smoking does not save 100% from the consequences - and therefore all these filters, hookahs, etc. - do not work.
Vapers should not relax either - and the reason is simple:
- Despite the fact that harmless components such as glycerin are used - they are harmless to the food industry! No one knows about the consequences of exposure and, in general, about the composition of the gases that come from pyrolysis during vaping. Research work is currently underway и ), and the results are already impressive.
Check out - I have already said that nicotine was used as a pesticide. Since 2014, it has practically not been used in the United States; in the European Union, it has been banned altogether since 2009. However, this does not prevent its use in China ...
Pharmaceutical grade nicotine (Pharma Grade, USP/PhEur or USP/EP) is currently available on the market. But there is also an insecticide that is made in China. Attention: which is cheaper? I repeat, I am not a vaper, but I would google it for fun and compare the price of what you bought in this jar with how much it should cost. Otherwise, at some point you can feel like a cockroach to fully enjoy the impurities in low-quality nicotine.
In short, at the moment humanity does not use completely safe ways to use nicotine. Is it necessary?
And our winner! Meet! First place
ethanolThe Chapayevites recaptured the white stations.
When examining the trophies, Vasily Ivanovich and Petka found a tank with alcohol.
So that the fighters would not get too drunk, they signed C2H5-OH, hoping
that the fighters know little about chemistry. The next morning, everyone was "in the insole."
Chapaev stirred up one and asked:
- How did you find it?
- It's simple. We searched, searched, suddenly we look: something is written on the tank - and then a dash and “OH”. We tried it - it's for sure!
In general, there is even ethanol toxicology - a field of medicine that studies the toxic substance ethanol (alcohol) and everything connected with it. So don't expect me to cram an entire section of medicine into a few paragraphs.
In fact, mankind has been familiar with ethanol for a very, very long time. The discovered vessels of the Stone Age with the remains of fermented drinks suggest that the production and consumption of alcoholic beverages existed already in the Neolithic era. Beer and wine are among the oldest drinks. Wine became one of the most significant cultural symbols for the different peoples of the Mediterranean, and took an important place in their mythology and rituals, and later in Christian worship (see Eucharist). Among the peoples who grow cereals (barley, wheat, rye), beer was the main holiday drink.
By the way, being a by-product of glucose metabolism, the blood of a healthy person can contain up to 0,01% of endogenous ethanol.
And despite all this, science is still not exactly sure about:
- the mechanism of the effect of ethanol on the central nervous system - intoxication
- hangover mechanism and causes
The effect of ethanol on the body is so multifaceted that it deserves a separate article. But since I started...
It is believed that ethanol, having a pronounced organotropism, accumulates more in the brain than in the blood. Even low doses of alcohol trigger the activity of inhibitory GABA systems in the brain, and it is this process that leads to a sedative effect, accompanied by muscle relaxation, doubtfulness and euphoria (a feeling of intoxication). Genetic variations in GABA receptors may influence alcoholism.
Especially pronounced activation of dopamine receptors is observed in the nucleus accumbens and in the ventral areas of the tegmentum. It is the reaction of these zones to the dopamine released under the action of ethanol that causes euphoria, which may be associated with the possibility of dependence on alcohol. Ethanol also leads to the release of opioid peptides (eg, beta-endorphin), which in turn are associated with the release of dopamine. Opioid peptides also play a role in the formation of euphoria.
Finally, alcohol stimulates the serotonergic system of the brain. There are genetically determined differences in sensitivity to alcohol, depending on the alleles of the genes of serotonin carrier proteins.
Currently, the effects of alcohol on other receptors and mediator systems of the brain, including adrenaline, cannabinol, acetylcholine] receptors, adenosine and stress-regulating (eg, corticotropin-releasing hormone) systems, are being actively studied.
In short, everything is very confusing and is an excellent field for a booze of scientific activity.
For a long period, ethyl alcohol poisoning has taken a leading place among household poisonings in terms of the absolute number of deaths. More than 60% of all fatal poisonings in Russia are caused by alcohol. However, regarding the lethal concentration and dose, everything is not so simple. It is believed that the lethal concentration of alcohol in the blood is 5-8 g / l, the lethal single dose is 4-12 g / kg (about 300 ml of 96% ethanol), however, in people with chronic alcoholism, alcohol tolerance can be much higher.
This is all explained by different biochemistry: the rate of intoxication and its intensity are different both in different peoples, and in men and women (this is due to the fact that the isoenzyme spectrum of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH or ADH I) is genetically determined - the activity of various ADH isoforms has distinct differences by different people). In addition, the features of intoxication also depend on body weight, height, the amount of alcohol consumed and the type of drink (presence of sugar or tannins, carbon dioxide content, strength of the drink, snack).
In the body, ADH oxidizes ethanol to acetaldehyde and, if everything is fine, further to safe and extremely high-calorie acetic acid - yes, I’m not kidding: “something has begun to get colder - isn’t it time for us to give in” has a completely biochemical rationale: ethanol is an extremely high-calorie product. In practice, everything is aggravated either by a lack of oxygen for oxidation (a smoky room, stale air - that's all from here), or an excess of ethanol, or ADH inactivity - the result of a genetic predisposition or an elementary binge. In total, everything stops at acetaldehyde - which is a toxic, mutagenic and carcinogenic substance. There is evidence of carcinogenicity of acetaldehyde in animal experiments, in addition, acetaldehyde damages DNA.
The whole problem with ethanol is almost entirely related to acetaldehyde, but in general, the toxic effect is essentially unique and all-encompassing. Judge for yourself:
- Violations of the gastrointestinal tract. They are manifested by acute pain in the stomach and diarrhea. They are most severe in patients with alcoholism. Pain in the stomach area is caused by damage to the mucous membrane of the stomach and small intestine, especially in the duodenum and jejunum. Diarrhea is the result of a rapidly occurring lactase deficiency and the associated decrease in lactose tolerance, as well as impaired absorption of water and electrolytes from the small intestine. Even a single use of large doses of alcohol can lead to the development of necrotizing pancreatitis with a frequent fatal outcome. Excessive alcohol consumption increases the likelihood of developing gastritis and stomach ulcers, and cancers of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Although the liver is part of the gastrointestinal tract, it makes sense to consider the alcoholic lesion of this organ separately, since the biotransformation of ethanol mainly occurs in the liver - this is where ADH sits. I even somehow feel sorry for the liver in this sense. Even with a single use of alcohol, phenomena of transient necrosis of hepatocytes can be observed. With prolonged abuse, alcoholic steatohepatitis may develop. An increase in "resistance" to alcohol (this occurs due to an increase in the production of the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) as a protective reaction of the body) occurs at the stage of alcoholic liver dystrophy - so don't rejoice,% username%, if you suddenly become a champion in drinking! Then, with the formation of alcoholic hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver, the total activity of the ADH enzyme decreases, but remains high in regenerating hepatocytes. Multiple foci of necrosis lead to fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis of the liver. Cirrhosis develops in at least 10% of people with steatohepatitis. But without a liver, people do not live ...
- Ethanol is a hemolytic poison. Therefore, ethanol in high concentrations, entering the bloodstream, can destroy red blood cells (cause pathological hemolysis), which can lead to toxic hemolytic anemia. Many studies have shown a clear relationship between alcohol intake and an increased risk of developing hypertension. Alcoholic drinks have a toxic effect on the heart muscle, activate the sympathoadrenal system, thereby causing the release of catecholamines, leading to spasm of the coronary vessels, and heart rhythm disturbance. Excessive alcohol consumption increases LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and leads to the development of alcoholic cardiomyopathy and various kinds of arrhythmias (these changes are observed on average with the use of more than 30 g of ethanol per day). Alcohol can increase the risk of stroke, depending on the amount of alcohol and the type of stroke, and is often the cause of sudden death in people with coronary artery disease.
- The use of ethanol can cause oxidative damage to brain neurons, as well as their death due to damage to the blood-brain barrier. Chronic alcoholism can lead to a decrease in brain volume - but this is not at all the volume that is useful. With prolonged use of alcohol, organic changes in neurons are observed on the surface of the cerebral cortex. These changes occur in places of hemorrhage and necrosis of areas of the brain substance. When drinking large amounts of alcohol, a rupture of the capillaries of the brain can occur - this is why the brain “grows”.
- When alcohol enters the body, high concentrations of ethanol are also observed in the secretion of the prostate, testicles and sperm, exerting a toxic effect on germ cells. Ethanol also crosses the placenta very easily, passes into milk, increases the risk of having a baby with congenital anomalies of the nervous system and possible growth retardation.
Phew. Good thing I didn't add cognac to my coffee, right? In short, drinking too much is bad. What if you don't drink?
The definition of "moderate alcohol" is being revised depending on the accumulation of new scientific data. The current US definition is no more than 24 grams of ethanol per day for most adult men and no more than 12 grams for most women.
The problem is that it is almost impossible to build a "pure" experiment" - it is impossible to find a sample of people in the world who have never drunk. And even if it is possible, it is impossible to eliminate the influence of other factors - the same ecology. And even if it is possible, it is impossible to find such people who do not suffer from hepatitis, have a healthy heart, and so on.
Also, people lie. It generally complicates everything.
Do you think you know holivars? Try googling articles on the effects of alcohol by Fillmore, Harris, and a bunch of other scientists who have devoted themselves to the study of alcoholism! There is a lot of controversy with the benefits of red wine alone, for example, it recently turned out that polyphenols - namely, the benefits of red wine are associated with them - are about the same in white wine.
And if you get away from science, in the popular literature about the benefits of alcohol there is as much nonsense as about the dangers (only the female sex hormones in beer are worth something).
Until these questions are cleared up, the most reasonable advice would be:
- For those who currently do not drink at all, alcohol consumption solely for the purpose of health care should not be recommended, since it has not been established that alcohol itself is a causal factor in improving health.
- Persons who drink alcohol and are not at risk of alcohol problems (pregnant or lactating women, drivers of cars or other potentially hazardous machinery, taking medications with which alcohol is contraindicated, people with a family history of alcoholism, or those who are recovering from alcoholism) should not consume more than 12-24 grams of ethanol per day, as recommended by the US Dietary Guidelines.
- Individuals who consume alcohol in excess of moderate amounts should be advised to reduce their intake.
By the way, scientists agreed on one thing - this is the so-called J-shaped mortality curve. It was found that the relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and mortality among middle-aged and older men is similar to the letter "J" in the recumbent state: while the mortality of quitters and heavy drinkers is significantly increased, mortality (cumulative from all causes) is 15-18% less among small drinkers (1-2 units per day) than among non-drinkers. The reasons were called different - from deep biochemistry and medicine, where the devil himself will break his leg - to the better social status and quality of health of moderate drinkers, but the fact remains (there were even such studies that showed that the diet of moderate drinkers contains less fat and cholesterol compared to non-drinkers, that moderate drinkers go in for sports more often and are more physically active than completely non-drinkers - in short, it is clear to everyone that even scientists do not want to completely give up alcohol, which they try to justify in every possible way).
Absolutely and everyone agrees that alcohol consumption in large quantities leads to a significant increase in mortality. For example, a US study found that people who consumed 5 or more units of alcohol on days they drank had a 30% higher mortality rate than those who consumed only one unit. According to another study, drinkers who drink six or more units of alcohol (at one time) have a 57% higher mortality rate than those who drink less.
By the way, a study of the relationship between mortality and tobacco use showed that the complete cessation of tobacco, along with moderate alcohol consumption, gave a significant reduction in mortality.
Another area of controversy was the role of the type of alcoholic drink preferred. The French paradox (the low death rate from coronary heart disease in France) suggested that red wine was especially beneficial to health. This specific effect could be explained by the presence of antioxidants in the wine. But studies have failed to show significant differences between the risk of coronary heart disease and the type of alcoholic beverages preferred. And why red and not white? Why not cognac? In short, everything is difficult.
What you definitely should not do is drink while taking medication.
As already shown above, the effect of alcohol on the body is very complex, and in some places not fully understood. When a certain pharmaceutical preparation is mixed into this soup, nothing is clear at all.
- Firstly, the effectiveness of the drug can change - and in any direction. We are not talking about dosage.
- Secondly, the biochemical turbulence caused by ethanol is not known how it will affect the drug. May increase side effects. It can generally make it useless (not counting the side effects, of course). Or maybe kill. No one knows.
- Thirdly, the liver, which is already preoccupied with processing unknown garbage from pharmacists, will not be very happy about the need to also process alcohol. Might as well give up altogether.
Usually in the instructions (who reads them?) to the drugs they write about the possibility of drinking with alcohol - this is if it was checked. Or you can try it yourself - and then tell everyone about your experience. Well, this is if you have one more body in stock.
From what I wrote above:
- Simultaneous intake of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) and alcohol can lead to ulceration of the gastric mucosa and bleeding.
- Alcohol consumption negatively affects the results of vitamin therapy. In particular, damage to the gastrointestinal tract leads to the fact that vitamins taken orally are poorly absorbed and absorbed, and leads to a violation of their conversion into an active form. This is especially true for vitamins B1, B6, PP, B12, C, A, folic acid.
- Smoking enhances the toxic effect of alcohol - both in terms of suppressing oxidative processes due to oxygen starvation (remember acetaldehyde, yes), and in terms of the joint blocking effect on receptors from nicotine and alcohol.
In short, alcohol is not easy. Is it good or bad - no one knows for sure, but they are not in a hurry to completely abandon it.
You decide.
On that optimistic note, I bow out. Hope it's interesting again.
Wine is our friend, but deceit lives in it:
Drink a lot - poison, drink a little - medicine.
Don't hurt yourself too much
Drink in moderation - and the kingdom of life will last ...
- Abu Ali Hussein ibn Abdullah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ali ibn Sina (Avicenna)
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Source: habr.com