By: Sofa Escobar, Daniela Camacho

and Adriana Sales

What is the source?
The alcohol that you can drink is ethyl alcohol or ethanol. It is
produced by fermenting carbohydrates, such as sugars or
starches. Fermentation is an anaerobic process used by yeast
to convert sugars into energy. Ethanol and carbon dioxide are
waste products of the reaction.
Just about any plant matter can be used to produce alcohol.
Here is a list of the source material for several popular
alcoholic beverages.

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/05/01/where-does-alcohol-come-from.htm
What is the action center of the
drug?
In the brain, a neurotransmitter called glutamate acts as the brains
general purpose excitatory neurotransmitter.
When alcohol enters the brain it delivers a double sedative punch.
First, it interacts with GABA receptors to make them even more
inhibitory.
Second, it binds to glutamate receptors, preventing the glutamate from
exciting the cell.
Alcohol particularly affects areas of the brain involved in memory
formation, decision making and impulse control.
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/05/
01/where-does-alcohol-come-from.htm
Ale - fermented from malt with hops
Beer - brewed and fermented from malted cereal grain (as barley), flavored with
hops
Bourbon - whiskey distilled from a mash of not less than 51 percent corn and
aged in new charred oak barrels for a minimum of two years
Brandy - distilled from wine or fermented fruit juice
Cognac - a brandy distilled from white wine from a specific region of France
Gin - distilled or redistilled neutral grain spirits from a variety of sources,
flavored with juniper berries and other aromatics
Rum - distilled from a sugarcane product such as molasses or sugarcane juice
Sake - produced by a brewing process using rice
Tequila - a Mexican liquor distilled from blue agave
Vodka - distilled from a mash as of potatoes, rye or wheat
Whiskey - distilled from mash of grain such as rye, corn, or barley
Scotch - whiskey distilled in Scotland typically from malted barley
Wine - fermented juice of fresh grapes and/or other fruit (e.g., blackberry wine

bibliography:
http://chemistry.about.com/b/2012/05/01/where-does-alcohol-come-from.htm
What are the effects in the
user?
http://www.healthchecksystems.com/alcohol.htm

In general, for healthy people, one drink per
day for women and two drinks per day for men
would be considered the maximum amount of
alcohol consumption to be considered as a
moderate use.
Once you take your first sip, alcohol starts
affecting your body and mind. After one or two
drinks you may start feeling more sociable, but
if you drink too much things such as walking
and talking become much harder. You might
also start saying things you dont mean and
behaving out differently. Some of alcohols
effects disappear overnight, others can stay for
a longer, time or even become permanent.

Alcohol irritates the stomach, so drinking to
much can cause sickness, nausea end
diarrhoea. It also has a dehydrating effect,
which is one reason why excessive drinking can
lead to a thumping headache the morning
after.
http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/facts/effects-of-alcohol-2
Withdrawal symptoms? What
causes them?
Alcohol withdrawal refers to a group of symptoms that may occur from suddenly stopping the
use of alcohol after chronic or prolonged ingestion.

Not everyone who stops drinking experiences withdrawal symptoms, but most people who
have been drinking for a long period of time, or drinking frequently, or drink heavily when
they do drink, will experience some form of withdrawal symptoms if they stop drinking
suddenly.
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/withdraw/a/aa030307a.htm

Getting the shakes, or the sweats -- or perhaps
nausea, headache, anxiety, a rapid heart beat, and
increased blood pressure feeling nervousness.
Rapid emotional changes

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/withdrawal/a/aa000125a.htm

What Happens to Your Body When You
Get Alcohol Poisoning?

You should also know that a person's blood alcohol concentration
can continue while he or she is passed out. Even after a person
stops drinking, alcohol in the stomach and intestine continues to
enter the bloodstream and circulate throughout the body. It is
dangerous to assume the person will be fine by sleeping it off
Alcohol depresses the nerves that control the involuntary actions
of your organism such as breathing and the gag reflex (which
prevents choking). A fatal dose of alcohol will eventually stop these
functions.
It is common for someone who drank excessive alcohol to vomit
since alcohol is an irritant to the stomach. There is then the danger
of choking on vomit, which could cause death by asphyxiation in a
person who is not conscious because of alcohol intoxication.
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/factsaboutalcoholpoisoning.aspx
Critical Signs and Symptoms of
Alcohol Poisoning at the moment
of Intoxication
Mental confusion, stupor,
coma, or person roused.
Vomiting.
Seizures
Slow breathing (fewer than
eight breaths per minute).
Irregular breathing (10 seconds
or more between breaths).
Hypothermia (low body
temperature), bluish skin color,
paleness.

http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/factsaboutalcoholpoisoning.aspx
What Can Happen to Someone With Alcohol
Poisoning That Goes Untreated?
Victim chokes on his or her own vomit.
Breathing slows, becomes irregular, or
stops.
Heart beats irregularly or stops.
Hypothermia (low body temperature).
Hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar) leads
to seizures.
Untreated severe dehydration from
vomiting can cause seizures, permanent
brain damage, or death.

Even if the victim lives, an alcohol
overdose can lead to irreversible brain
damage. Rapid binge drinking (which often
happens on a bet or a dare) is especially
dangerous because the victim can ingest a
fatal dose before becoming unconscious.
http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/factsaboutalcoholpoisoning.aspx
Addiction
In order to ingest alcohol and survive, your body must
alter itself significantly. Specifically, your brain and liver
undergo changes when you consume alcohol -they
literally adapt to this toxin in their midst in an effort to
keep you healthy.
Genes: children with alcoholic parents have more
possibilities of becoming addicted.
Physiologically: people with problems drink to forget
them (since alcohol works in the brain), and instead
feel happy.
http://www.michaelshouse.com/alcohol-treatment/why-is-alcohol-so-addictive/
http://www.livestrong.com/article/27164-people-become-addicted-alcohol/