Author Question: When an individual drinks regularly, how does this affect his/her liver ... (Read 13 times)

APUS57 · **on:** Aug 20, 2018

When an individual drinks regularly, how does this affect his/her liver function?

Question 2

Ben and his date Marla have both had 4 beers. Ben is 6' 3 and weighs 240 lb. Marla is 5' 3 and weighs 130 lb. Will their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels be the same? If not, why not?

matt · **Reply #1 on:** Aug 20, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Frequent and chronic alcohol consumption can interfere with normal liver function partly because the two main by-products of alcohol metabolism are acetaldehyde and NADH + H+. The accumulation of acetaldehyde damages the liver, impairing its function. Alcohol metabolism also raises NADH + H+ levels and lowers NAD+ levels in the liver. As a result, the activity of numerous NAD-linked enzymes becomes limited. With limited NAD+, pyruvate is instead converted to lactate.

Answer to Question 2

If two people of similar body weight ingest the same amount of alcohol, the leaner person will have a lower BAC. This occurs because alcohol diffuses from the blood and into the lean tissue until equilibrium is reached. In contrast, adipose tissue takes up very little alcohol, so that more remains in the blood. An individual with a large body tends to have more blood and body fluids than one with a smaller body, diluting the concentration of alcohol. Therefore, the BAC of a large person (Ben) and/or one with more lean tissue is often lower than that of a small person (Marla) and/or one with less lean tissue after drinking the same amount of alcohol. Because Ben is larger and probably leaner (because he is male), Ben's BAC will be lower than Marla's.