Ethanol is one of the oldest known drugs. 9000 year-old pottery in China have shown traces of alcohol, indicating that Neolithic humans may have drunk alcoholic beverages.
Alcohol is a depressant - it temporarily diminishes the function of the central nervous system. Alcohol "works" by affecting more than one system in the body, but it has been determined that alcohol stimulates certain receptors in the brain. These receptors (including GABA receptors) decrease neuron activity when a molecule is bound to it. It is also believed that some of these receptors control fear and anxiety, and therefore they are the target of a number of anti-anxiety drugs, like valium.
Ethanol is metabolised in the body like any foodstuff, as it contains sugars and other foodstuffs. Removal of alcohol by the liver is rate-limited, meaning there is a maximal rate that the liver can metabolise alcohol, and after that alcohol will start accumulating in the body untill the liver is given enough time to metabolise all of it.
Alcohol is a depressant - it temporarily diminishes the function of the central nervous system. Alcohol "works" by affecting more than one system in the body, but it has been determined that alcohol stimulates certain receptors in the brain. These receptors (including GABA receptors) decrease neuron activity when a molecule is bound to it. It is also believed that some of these receptors control fear and anxiety, and therefore they are the target of a number of anti-anxiety drugs, like valium.
Ethanol is metabolised in the body like any foodstuff, as it contains sugars and other foodstuffs. Removal of alcohol by the liver is rate-limited, meaning there is a maximal rate that the liver can metabolise alcohol, and after that alcohol will start accumulating in the body untill the liver is given enough time to metabolise all of it.
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