01 · How it works
Origins & Action
Ethanol enhances GABA-mediated inhibition while suppressing excitatory NMDA glutamate receptors, producing central nervous system depression, motor impairment, and cognitive slowing.
02 · Immediate effects
Recognize the effects
Signs of Use
- Unsteady gait or loss of balance
- Slurred speech and delayed responses
- Involuntary eye movements
- Facial flushing and bloodshot eyes
- Lowered inhibitions
- Loss of fine motor skills
Short Term
- Mild euphoria and disinhibition
- Impaired motor control
- Nausea and gastric irritation
- Heat loss from vasodilation
- Cognitive slowing
- Respiratory depression at high BAC
Long Term
- Liver cirrhosis and failure
- Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- Cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias
- Increased gastrointestinal cancer risk
- Severe physical dependence
- Cerebral cortical atrophy
03 · Long-term consequences
Alcohol poisoning
Alcohol poisoning is caused by acute, high-volume alcohol consumption over a short period. The primary life threats are respiratory failure, asphyxiation on vomit, hypothermia, and cardiac arrest.
Medical emergency
Identifying an emergency
Delirium tremens is a severe complication of alcohol withdrawal, occurring 48 to 96 hours after a chronically alcohol-dependent person abruptly stops or sharply reduces heavy drinking. It presents with severe confusion, autonomic hyperactivity (rapid heart rate, severe sweating, hypertension), tremors, and hallucinations, rather than acute central nervous system depression.