Why Ethanol Kills Cells

Proteins which make up about 70% of cell membranes are affected by the pH of ethanol. Proteins are made of amino-acids which can form hydrogen bonds with the many hydrogen atoms found in the molecule.

It is know that over consumption of alcohol can lead to death. Drinking a large quantity of alcohol in a short period of time can cause alcohol poisoning, which is a common cause of alcohol-related death. It can affect people of all ages, which means children, teenagers, middle aged and elders will all have some possibility of getting alcohol poisoning. It is known that over the past decades, there seemed to be an increasing number of alcohol related deaths to be happening.

That is because a kind of plant can be used to create ethanol, and animals do not use this plant as food. In other words, the amount of corn will not be reduced.

Alcohol also interrupts the production of energy in your body. When the body is breaking down alcohol, the liver finds it hard to produce enough glucose, and that means low levels of sugar. The liver has to work extra harder to get rid of the toxic products of alcohol brought into your system.

Consumption of alcohol is not only injurious to pregnant women but also to the developing fetus inside the womb. Placenta connects the mother and the developing fetus and this placenta caters the need of the developing fetus. Alcohol can cross the placenta and can reach the fetus from the mother therefore, causing birth defects in the growing baby. Alcohol breaks down slowly in the baby’s blood thus causing harm to the baby. Alcohol acts as a Teratogen. Teratogen is an agent which can cause harmful effects to the growing baby. Consumption of excess alcohol during the crucial stages of the development of the baby leads to irreversible birth defects in the baby leading to Fetal alcohol syndrome. They can result in physical, mental and neurobehavioral

Alcohol is often the destructive force behind many dead men who take one sip too many and fall into its control. In the life of Scott Russell Sanders that is exactly what happens. His father falls weak to the evil of alcohol and becomes possessed by it. This ultimately leads to the father’s own demise, and the birth of his son’s own demon that would bring torment upon him and his own family one day. Knowing full well the power of this demon Scott Russell Sanders writes” Under The Influence” in hope that his son may not be afflicted by the disease. Also, he targets the audience for those who have ever been afflicted by the disease known as alcoholism in hopes that they too can break free from the demons. Although the awareness of alcoholism as grown greatly over the last fifty years, it is still a grave issue none the less as it was when Sanders wrote this. The text as a whole convinces the audience that alcoholism does not only affect the alcoholic, but also affects future generations to come and because of this action must be made if it is to ever be stopped.

Osmosis is defined as the diffusion of specifically water through a semipermeable membrane and is conducted so that the molecules may move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in order to become isotonic. The experiment conducted was set up in order to answer the question “How does alcohol affect the water content in cells?” This question relates to the process of osmosis because alcohol acts as the solute in the experiment and when mixed with water can affect the concentration levels of a solution. A solution is hypotonic if it has a lower concentration of solutes inside or outside the cell and a solution is hypertonic if it has a higher concentration of solutes inside or outside of the cell. Water is diffused through the membrane of a cell until equilibrium is reached and the solution is isotonic meaning there is the same concentration of solutes inside and outside of the cell.

This article is about How Alcohol Can Kill You.The term alcohol originally referred to the primary alcohol ethanol,which is used as a drug and is the main alcohol present in alcoholic beverages.Alcohol kills more than 3 million people worldwide each year,which translates to one person every 10 seconds.The statistic includes alcohol-related driving fatalities,violence,and health issues arising excessive alcohol consumption.

Fuel prices seem to be the subject that always makes headlines on a regular basis since the United States is the biggest consumer of fossil fuel in the world. The Central Intelligence Agency reported that in 2015 alone, the United States consumed over 19 million barrels of refined petroleum products per day. The data suggests that Americans consumed almost 5 million barrels more than China and India, the two most populous countries on earth. (Central Intelligence Agency, n.d.) High energy consumption forces Americans to rely on foreign fuel sources since domestic fuel supplies are simply not enough to satisfy the thirst. Due to this very reason, the U.S. is often subject to unpredictable fuel prices and fuel shortage scare. It also has to cope with the rise in emission that contributes directly to climate change, another hot topic of the 21st century. Enter ethanol, an alcohol addition to gasoline that promises to reduce fuel prices, stretch fuel supplies, and solve the global warming dilemma. Ethanol, however, has not lived up to its reputation. In fact, it has fallen short on many occasions and become a subject of controversy.

The effects of alcohol on the body is very dangerous it can cause many problems. Brain damage is the number one problem that alcohol causes. It kills brain cells causing lower reaction times, memory loss, and can even cause you to have blackouts (Passing out at random times). Drinking alcohol is the 2nd biggest cause of cancer (Smoking is the biggest cause of cancer). Drinking alcohol can cause many issues with your organs such as heart issues, lung issues, stomach issues, etc…. Alcohol also weakens your body’s ability to absorb calcium making your bones weaker. It also causes many people to weight gain. Drinking alcohol is a cause of domestic abuse (When somebody abuses people in their home) which is putting more than just yourself in danger

Even though alcohol does not actually kill brain cells, it still can damage the brain. It does this by damaging the dendrites (Krucik, 2013) which are the branch-like ends of the brain cells. Dendrites are used for passing messages from one neuron to another, therefore damage to dendrites can cause severe cognitive problems. (Lexton, 2016)

Ethanol is made through a chemical process known to most brewers as fermentation. This process causes

Alcohol or ethanol is a chemical compound which is classified as a depressant. Depressants slow down the human brain and affect the way the brain interprets information and alters feeling and human behaviour according to (alcoholthinagain, 2017). Alcohol just like any other liquid must pass through the stomach, from there it must pass through the liver. According to (myDr, 2017) the liver must process the alcohol into a chemical compound called acetaldehyde. The acetate is further metabolised and eventually leaves the body safely. However, if excessive alcohol is consumed over a prolonged period of time will result in alcohol related liver disease, from alcohol related fatty liver disease to worst case scenario of cirrhosis. Cirrhosis occurs in response to excessive damage felt to the liver, each time the liver is damaged it attempts to heal itself, in the process creating scar tissue.

Alcohol has been found to affect the metabolism of cells within the body. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of alcohol on E2F transcription factor proteins in HT-1080 cells. The method used to determine the effect of alcohol on E2F isoforms was western blot analysis. Image J was utilized in order to collect protein density data. This study found that the E2F3, E2F7, and E2F8 isoforms of the E2F transcription protein were significantly affected by alcohol. The increased presence of these isoforms due to alcohol has the potential to detrimentally affect the body. The overexpression of these isoforms could cause cell damage, a change in cell function, and the increased replication of DNA, which could lead to cancer. This

Gurtovenko, A. A. & Anwar, J., 2009. Interaction of Ethanol with Biological Membranes: The Formation of Nonbilayer Structures within the Membrane Interior and their Significance. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 113(7), pp. 1983-1992.