Clinical data | |||
---|---|---|---|
Pronunciation | /ˈɛθənɒl/ | ||
Other names | Absolute alcohol; Alcohol (USP ); Cologne spirit; Drinking alcohol; Ethanol (JAN ); Ethylic alcohol; EtOH; Ethyl alcohol; Ethyl hydrate; Ethyl hydroxide; Ethylol; Grain alcohol; Hydroxyethane; Methylcarbinol | ||
Pregnancy category |
| ||
Dependence liability | Physical: Very High Psychological: Moderate[1] | ||
Addiction liability | Moderate (10–15%)[2] | ||
Routes of administration | Common: Oral Uncommon: suppository, inhalation, ocular, insufflation, injection[3] | ||
Drug class | Analgesic; Anaphrodisiac; Anxiolytic; Depressant; Euphoriant; General anesthetic; Sedative | ||
ATC code | |||
Legal status | |||
Legal status |
| ||
Pharmacokinetic data | |||
Bioavailability | 80%+[4][5] | ||
Protein binding | Weakly or not at all[4][5] | ||
Metabolism | Liver (90%):[6][8] • Alcohol dehydrogenase • MEOS (CYP2E1) | ||
Metabolites | Acetaldehyde; Acetic acid; Acetyl-CoA; Carbon dioxide; Ethyl glucuronide; Ethyl sulfate; Water | ||
Onset of action | Peak concentrations:[6][4] • Range: 30–90 minutes • Mean: 45–60 minutes • Fasting: 30 minutes | ||
Elimination half-life | Constant-rate elimination at typical concentrations:[7][8][6] • Range: 10–34 mg/dL/hour • Mean (men): 15 mg/dL/hour • Mean (women): 18 mg/dL/hr At very high concentrations (t1/2): 4.0–4.5 hours[5][4] | ||
Duration of action | 6–16 hours (amount of time that levels are detectable)[9] | ||
Excretion | • Major: metabolism (into carbon dioxide and water)[4] • Minor: urine, breath, sweat (5–10%)[6][4] | ||
Identifiers | |||
| |||
CAS Number | |||
PubChem CID | |||
IUPHAR/BPS | |||
DrugBank | |||
ChemSpider | |||
UNII | |||
KEGG | |||
ChEBI | |||
ChEMBL | |||
PDB ligand | |||
Chemical and physical data | |||
Formula | C2H6O | ||
Molar mass | 46.069 g·mol−1 | ||
3D model (JSmol) | |||
Density | 0.7893 g/cm3 (at 20 °C)[10] | ||
Melting point | −114.14 ± 0.03 °C (−173.45 ± 0.05 °F) [10] | ||
Boiling point | 78.24 ± 0.09 °C (172.83 ± 0.16 °F) [10] | ||
Solubility in water | Miscible mg/mL (20 °C) | ||
| |||
|
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is one of the most widely consumed psychoactive drugs in the world and falls under the depressant category.[11][12] Despite its effects, the alcohol industry maintains that "alcohol is not a drug" (Room et al. 2007).[13] The normalization of alcohol consumption, along with past misconceptions about its health benefits, also promoted by the industry, further reinforces the mistaken idea that it isn't a drug.[14][15] Even within the realm of scientific inquiry, the common phrase "drugs and alcohol" used in published research implies that alcohol is somehow separate from other drugs. However despite being legal, alcohol, scientifically classified as a drug, has paradoxically been demonstrably linked to greater social harm than most illegal drugs.[16][17]
Alcohol is found in fermented beverages such as beer, wine, and distilled spirit[18] – in particular, rectified spirit,[19] and serves various purposes; it is used as a recreational drug, for example by college students, for self-medication, and in warfare. It is also frequently involved in alcohol-related crimes such as drunk driving, public intoxication, and underage drinking. Some esoteric religions and schools incorporate the use of alcohol for spiritual purposes.
For roughly two decades, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a World Health Organization (WHO) agency, has classified alcohol as a Group 1 Carcinogen.[20] In 2023, the WHO declared that there is "no safe amount" of alcohol consumption without health risks.[21] This reflects a global shift in public health messaging, aligning with the long-standing views of the temperance movement, which advocates against the consumption of alcoholic beverages. This shift aligns with the global scientific consensus against alcohol for pregnant women due to the known risks of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), as well as for individuals under the legal drinking age. WHO also highlighted a concerning statistic: nearly half of all alcohol-attributable cancers in the WHO European Region are linked to alcohol consumption, even from "light" or "moderate" drinking – "less than 1.5 litres of wine or less than 3.5 litres of beer or less than 450 millilitres of spirits per week".[21] This new information suggests that these consumption levels should now be considered high-risk. Many countries exceed these levels by a significant margin. Echoing the WHO's view, a growing number of national public health agencies are prioritizing complete abstinence (teetotalism) and stricter drinking guidelines in their alcohol consumption recommendations.
Alcohol has a variety of short-term and long-term adverse effects on health. Short-term effects from moderate consumption include happiness and euphoria, decreased anxiety, decreased social inhibition, sedation, impairment of cognitive, memory, motor, and sensory function, while binge drinking may result in generalized impairment of neurocognitive function, dizziness, analgesia, ataxia, general anaesthesia, decreased libido, nausea, vomiting, blackout, followed by hangover. Typical symptoms of a hangover may include headache, drowsiness, concentration problems, dry mouth, dizziness, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress (e.g., nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), absence of hunger, light sensitivity, depression, sweating, hyper-excitability, irritability, and anxiety.[22] Excessive alcohol intake causes alcohol intoxication characterized by unconsciousness or, in severe cases, death; in 2016, excessive alcohol use was responsible for 3.0 million deaths worldwide.[23] Long-term effects are considered to be a major global public health issue[24] and includes alcoholism, abuse, withdrawal, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), liver disease, hepatitis, cardiovascular disease (such as cardiomyopathy), polyneuropathy, hallucinosis, long-term impact on the brain (such as brain damage and dementia), and cancers such as breast cancer and head and neck cancer (especially laryngeal cancer).
Despite being a widespread issue, social stigma around problematic alcohol use or alcoholism discourages over 80% from seeking help.[25]
Alcohol works in the brain primarily by increasing the effects of γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA),[26] the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain; by facilitating GABA's actions, alcohol suppresses the activity of the CNS.[26] The substance also directly affects a number of other neurotransmitter systems including those of glutamate, glycine, acetylcholine, and serotonin.[27][28] The pleasurable effects of alcohol ingestion are the result of increased levels of dopamine and endogenous opioids in the reward pathways of the brain.[29][30]
In chemistry, "alcohol" can encompass other mind-altering alcohols besides the kind we drink. Some examples include synthetic drugs like ethchlorvynol and methylpentynol, once used in medicine. Also, ethanol is colloquially referred to as "alcohol" because it is the most prevalent alcohol in alcoholic beverages. But technically all alcoholic beverages contain several types of psychoactive alcohols, that are categorized as primary, secondary, or tertiary. Primary, and secondary alcohols, are oxidized to aldehydes, and ketones, respectively, while tertiary alcohols are generally resistant to oxidation.[31] Ethanol is a primary alcohol that has unpleasant actions in the body, many of which are mediated by its toxic metabolite acetaldehyde.[32] Less prevalent alcohols found in alcoholic beverages, are secondary, and tertiary alcohols. For example, the tertiary alcohol 2M2B which is up to 50 times more potent than ethanol and found in trace quantities in alcoholic beverages, has been synthesized and used as a designer drug. Alcoholic beverages are sometimes laced with toxic alcohols, such as methanol (the simplest alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol.[18] A mild, brief exposure to isopropyl alcohol (which is only moderately more toxic than ethanol) is unlikely to cause any serious harm. But many methanol poisoning incidents have occurred through history, since methanol is lethal even in small quantities, as little as 10–15 milliliters (2–3 teaspoons). Ethanol is used to treat methanol and ethylene glycol toxicity.
...alcohol dependence (is) a substantial risk of regular heavy drinking...
(Compulsive alcohol use) occurs only in a limited proportion of about 10–15% of alcohol users....
AcademicPress2013
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).pmid3319346
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).pmid3279433
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Levine2003
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Nutt_2010
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).pmid17382831
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Mathurin-2009
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).pmid11391069
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).pmid24164436
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search