[Kim Jaeho's Life Story]<219> The Allure and Shadows of Alcohol

Even a child knows that alcohol, the main component of liquor, is harmful to health. Nevertheless, humanity has lived with alcohol for thousands of years because of its allure.

When drinking alcohol, most of it is absorbed within an hour, and most is broken down within a few hours. During the relatively short time alcohol stays in the body, it activates genes in brain cells that produce dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin, increasing the production of these happiness chemicals, which improves mood, sometimes relieves stress, and can aid interpersonal relationships and social activities. This is the charm of alcohol.

The happiness effect of alcohol peaks at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05?0.06%, and beyond this level, the effect diminishes. Normally, happiness chemicals like dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin are secreted only when special conditions are met, but since alcohol induces the feeling without fulfilling those conditions, people crave alcohol again.

The body's reaction to alcohol entering it does not seem to like alcohol as much as people love its charm. The moment alcohol enters the body, it is recognized as a harmful substance, bypasses the usual digestive process, and is rapidly absorbed in the stomach (20%) and small intestine (80%), after which the liver immediately begins breaking it down into non-toxic substances.

Alcohol acts in two ways once inside the body. Alcohol absorbed from the stomach and small intestine increases the production of happiness chemicals in the brain, making one feel good, but on the other hand, it mixes into the bloodstream, circulates throughout the body, disrupting tissues and organs and paralyzing their functions.

In the brain, it interferes with communication pathways and affects how the brain operates, changing mood and behavior, making clear thinking and coordinated movement difficult. In the heart, it causes problems such as cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, and hypertension. In the liver, it leads to fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis, and cirrhosis. In the pancreas, it causes the production of toxic substances that can lead to pancreatitis, which impairs digestion.

Alcohol is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) under the World Health Organization (WHO). It causes various cancers such as breast cancer, colon cancer, laryngeal cancer, liver cancer, esophageal cancer, oral cancer, pharyngeal cancer, and pancreatic cancer. It also weakens the immune system, increasing the risk of bacterial or viral infections like COVID-19, influenza, pneumonia, and various cancers.

The devastating power of alcohol is confirmed by mortality statistics. According to the WHO, 3 million people worldwide die each year due to alcohol, accounting for 5.3% of all deaths. Among premature deaths between ages 15 and 49, the proportion caused by alcohol is much higher at 10%.

The extent to which alcohol harms our health depends on how long alcohol stays in the body and the substances produced during its breakdown. The time alcohol remains in the body depends on how quickly it is metabolized after absorption, which varies depending on body size, sex, and how quickly and how much alcohol is consumed.

In the liver, alcohol is broken down in three stages: first into acetaldehyde and hydrogen atoms, which is carcinogenic; second, acetaldehyde is broken down into acetic acid and hydrogen atoms; third, acetic acid is converted into carbon dioxide and water, completing the breakdown. Acetaldehyde, which exists briefly during this process, damages cells and tissues including the liver, pancreas, and brain.

Because alcohol breakdown involves such a complex process and takes considerable time, during drinking, the absorption rate of alcohol is generally faster than the breakdown rate, causing the amount of alcohol in the blood to increase. The proportion of alcohol in the blood relative to the total blood volume is called blood alcohol concentration (BAC).

BAC is influenced not only by the amount of alcohol consumed but also by body weight, sex, age, and food intake. It is zero when no alcohol is consumed. Between 0.08% and 0.4%, walking or speaking becomes difficult, and above 0.4%, there is a risk of coma or death. Many countries legally prohibit driving under the influence, with legal limits varying around 0.1% BAC.

The rate at which the liver breaks down alcohol is constant, lowering BAC by about 0.016% per hour. For example, if a person's BAC is 0.16% at a certain time, it will drop to zero after ten hours. There is little individual variation in alcohol metabolism speed, and there are almost no ways to speed up or slow down this rate, with two exceptions.

One exception is chronic heavy drinking over years, which induces other enzymes that slightly increase the breakdown rate but often damages the liver, leading to cirrhosis. The other exception is eating before drinking, which slightly speeds up alcohol metabolism.

Human history shows that giving up the charm of alcohol is not easy. However, even if that charm is precious, it is rarely worth damaging one’s one and only precious body to hold on to it. Perhaps we need the wisdom to exercise some restraint while considering the shadow hidden behind alcohol’s allure.

Kim Jae-ho, Independent Researcher

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.