**1. Introduction**

#### **1.1. How alcohol is absorbed into the body?**

Some people drink socially and do not get addicted while others do. The ground behind the alcohol drinking is related to psychological, physiological, genetics and social factors.

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

When people consume alcohol, about 20% is absorbed in the stomach and almost 80% is absorbed in the small intestine. Alcohol absorption is related to the two main factors:

**1.** cerebral cortex **2.** limbic system **3.** cerebellum

**5.** medulla (brain stem)

**Euphoria (BAC = 0.03– 0.12%)**

They become more selfassured or brave.

They may look flushed (red).

Their awareness period shortens.

Their conclusive power is not as good.

They have trouble with fine movements, such as writing.

**4.** hypothalamus and pituitary gland

*2.1.1. Long-term effect of alcohol on the brain*

**Excitement (BAC = 0.09–0.25%)**

They have a problem in understanding or recalling things (even recent events).

They do not respond to situations as quickly

Their body movements are uncoordinated.

They start to lose their sense of balance easily.

Their vision becomes

They may have problems in sensing things (hearing, tasting, emotion, etc.).

**Table 1.** The effect of alcohol exposure on the brain.

dim.

ity, lack of fine movements, memory and learning problems.

They become lethargic. They become

**Confusion (BAC = 0.18–0.30%)**

woozy and may walk unsteadily.

They may be highly emotional, destructive, reserved or overly

They cannot observe clearly.

They have garbled

They have clumsy movements.

They may not feel tenderness as readily as a sober person.

loving.

speech.

Continuous or excessive drinking can lead to undeviating injury, causing the brain to shrivel. This leads to deficiency in fibers that transfers the information between neuronal cells. Excessive alcohol leads to a condition called **Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome** (deficiency of thiamine) [4]. Alcohol interference leads to this deficiency, as it blocks the way of vitamin B absorption in the body. Symptoms of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are mental perplex-

**Stupor** 

**(BAC = 0.25–0.4%)**

They can barely move at all.

They may lapse in and out of consciousness.

They cannot respond to stimuli.

They are drowsy. They cannot stand or walk.

**Coma (BAC = 0.35– 0.50%)**

Effect of Alcohol on Brain Development http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.73693 15

They are unconscious.

Their reflexes are depressed.

They feel cold.

Their breathing is slower and shallower.

may slow.

They may die.

They may vomit. Their heart rate

**Death (BAC more than 0.50%)**

The person usually stops breathing and dies.


Absorbed alcohol enters the blood stream and is carried all through the body. Upon reaching the body, simultaneously the body works to eliminate it. The 10% of alcohol is removed by the kidneys (urine) and lungs (breath). Left-out alcohol is oxidized by the liver, converting alcohol into acetaldehyde first and then further converted to acetic acid.
