Acute Alcohol Intoxication

What is a hangover ?

Acute alcohol intoxication, also known as veisalgia or, colloquially, a hangover, refers to those difficult mornings following a night of heavy partying.

This condition, which is characterized by various symptoms, occurs in the hours following excessive alcohol consumption, specifically during the elimination phase. It reflects the toxic effects of alcohol on the body, particularly on the liver and brain.

This phenomenon can occur even after just one glass.

The most common symptoms are: a feeling of weakness, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, stomach cramps, headaches, sensitivity to noise and light, intense thirst, and impaired attention and memory.

First, the absorption of ethanol is an important step that occurs primarily in the small intestine. With the exception of bone and adipose tissue, it is distributed evenly throughout all tissues, following the movement of waterand crosses the fetoplacental barrier. The primary route for the breakdown of ethanol is through the liver.

It is based on two saturable oxidation steps that reach their maximum capacity as soon as the blood alcohol level reaches 0.10 g/L :

Oxidation of ethanol to acetaldehyde by alcohol dehydrogenase, followed by oxidation of acetaldehyde to acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase.

Numerous factors can affect the absorption and/or metabolism of ethanol:

For example, genetic factors or medications. The analytical methods used to detect alcohol consumption are based on measurements of breath or blood.

As part of road safety measures, breath alcohol tests are conducted, with a legal limit of 0.25 mg/L of exhaled air.

Alcohol intoxication is defined as a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.5 g/l, which is equivalent to approximately 20 g of alcohol.

Since it is lighter than water, its density of 0.79 can be used to calculate the amount of ethanol in a beverage. The alcohol content, or percentage by volume, is the volumetric proportion of pure ethanol in a liquid mixture.

Thus, a standard 10 cl glass of wine with an alcohol content of 12 percent by volume contains 12 mL of pure ethanol, or 12 × 0.8 (rounded from 0.79) = 9.6 grams of alcohol.

Each glass, or each “unit of alcohol,” therefore contains 10 grams of pure alcohol.

It should be noted that the detoxification metabolism is saturable and is already operating at maximum capacity as soon as the blood alcohol level reaches 0.10 g/L.