Alcohol Effects

When examining DWI cases it is very important to understand the effects that alcohol has on the human body. Each case depends on how the alcohol was absorbed and processed in the human body, the case will depend on what the suspect’s blood alcohol content was at the time he/she was pulled over. The BAC may be lower while drinking, if the driver had just consumed alcohol before getting behind the wheel, but if the BAC is taken 20 minutes later it will have a different reading. Only a New Jersey DWI lawyer knows the scientific properties of how certain amounts of alcohol taken in different time periods and amounts may affect the human body.

Alcohol can affect the body in different ways. The central nervous system is the most severely affected by alcohol because alcohol is a depressant. But the degree to which the central nervous system is impaired is usually proportional to the amounts of alcohol in the blood
While drinking alcohol it will pass from the stomach into the small intestine, then it is quickly absorbed into the blood which then goes to all the veins in your body. Alcohol in small amounts will reduce inhibitions and judgment. As alcohol amounts increase an individual’s judgment decreases quickly, your speech becomes slurred and incoherent, and you may even lose your sense of balance and have difficulty with the littlest things like walking. Higher levels of alcohol say higher than 0.35 milligrams/100 milliliters of blood (equivalent to 0.35 grams/210 liters of breath) could put you into a coma or you could even die.

Absorption

By simple diffusion into the blood alcohol is absorbed into the digestive system. Alcohol absorption into the small intestine is the most efficient part of the gastrointestinal tract. Generally 20 to 25 percent of the alcohol consumed when you do not eat is absorbed into the stomach, 75 percent to 80 percent is absorbed into the small intestine. If you eat you will reach peak alcohol concentrations within 1 to as much as 6 hours. But if you go without eating blood alcohol levels are achieved much faster say within 0.5 to 2 hours.

Distribution

As alcohol is absorbed quickly to the water in the body it will be found in tissues and fluids that also contain water. The alcohol is then quickly transported through the body in the blood. Once absorption of alcohol is complete, equilibrium occurs so that the blood at all points in the system contains about the same concentration of alcohol.

Elimination

The elimination of alcohol ingested in the body is the job of the liver. The liver, through metabolism eliminates 95% of alcohol while the remaining 5% is eliminated by bodily functions. Different metabolic processes are used by the body in its oxidation of alcohol to acetaldehyde to acetic acid to carbon dioxide and water.

People, when healthy and free of medical conditions, metabolize alcohol at a constant rate. A person will normally metabolize an average drink or 0.5 oz. of alcohol per hour. This rate is affected by different factors. The rate is usually higher when a person has been drinking for a while or when they begin to drink. If a person consistently consumes large amounts of alcohol over a longer period of time, their rate of metabolism is higher than usual. The older you get the slower alcohol is metabolized through the body.