How long does alcohol last in a person’s blood (table), permissible limit

In recent years, our state has become more and more serious about combating alcohol abuse. This is commendable, but sometimes people who, as they say, have never put it in their mouth or even smelled it, are forced to prove it. And according to the law, this can be convincingly proven in only one way - to undergo a medical examination for alcohol or drug intoxication.

Now this procedure can be done not only in government clinics. By law, any medical institution can conduct an examination if it has the appropriate license. You can use this and get a completely honest, unbiased result.

Methods for measuring alcohol

The unit of measurement is ppm (‰). If the indicator is 1, this means that the alcohol concentration in a liter of blood is 0.45 mg. If traffic inspectors have detained a drunk motorist, according to the law they can use 2 methods to check:

1. Breathalyzer analysis - a person is asked to exhale into a special device. When ethanol is broken down, a small portion of it is lost during respiration through the lungs. By exhaled air you can determine the concentration of alcohol in the body.
2. Blood analysis . A study is required if the driver refuses to “breathe into the tube” or if he disagrees with the breathalyzer readings. The inspector may require a blood test if he sees clear signs of intoxication, but the machine shows zero ppm.

Air analysis is a quick procedure and is done when the vehicle is stopped. To donate blood, the driver will need to visit a medical facility.

How does alcohol affect a driver's reaction?

Ethanol negatively affects the condition of the entire body, but mostly affects the liver, brain, and pancreas. All drinks containing any amount of ethanol are alcoholic. Toxic breakdown products that circulate in the blood interfere with making informed decisions, reacting quickly, and concentrating, which is important for the driver.

Due to intoxication, he may not be able to brake in time when the color of the traffic light changes, the sudden appearance of a person crossing the road, or another car leaving a secondary road. In an extreme situation, the reaction should be instantaneous, but a drunk person’s ability to make decisions is sharply reduced:

1. With slight intoxication, for example, after a glass of vodka (about 0.2-0.5 ‰), the craving for risky, fast driving and sudden maneuvers increases. However, the perception of surrounding objects when turning, turning, or overtaking deteriorates.
2. After two glasses of beer or 3-4 glasses of strong drink (0.5-0.8 ‰), reactions slow down, become dull, and the driver reacts late to maneuvers in other areas of the road. The pupil does not adapt well to changes in lighting - the driver is blinded by high beams and may not notice dangerous areas on the road.
3. If the alcohol content reaches 1.2 ppm, all of these problems increase. The driver does not realize the danger, begins to confuse the pedals, turns incorrectly, cannot determine the distance to oncoming cars, and the angle of vision narrows.

it is no longer possible to drive a vehicle ; often a drunk person is not even able to start the car and move away.

Acceptable norms per mille

According to Article 12.8 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, it is prohibited to drink alcohol-containing drinks before, while driving and after a traffic accident. The norm of ppm (one thousandth of the number that determines the degree of intoxication) since 2013 has differed from the indicators of previous years. According to Russian legislation, previously only strictly zero ppm was allowed when driving: that is, there should be absolutely no alcohol in the blood and exhaled air. But the article of the law was repealed, this is due to the fact that some products that do not contain alcohol showed ppm when tested on a breathalyzer. These include :

• nonalcoholic beer;
• kefir, curdled milk, yogurt, kvass;
• warm juices;
• tobacco products;
• overripe bananas, oranges;
• black bread;
• mouth freshener;
• chocolate candies;
• some medications.

The consumption of these products by the driver during the delay showed a certain amount of ppm, for which he was subject to a fine until 2013. In this regard, according to the new law, the permissible standard has become 0.16 ppm in exhaled air or 0.3 grams per 1 liter of blood.

How to determine the number of ppm

There are few drivers left who allow themselves to drink beer or a glass of vodka and get behind the wheel. For them, there is an alcohol calculator that will calculate the time for the removal of drunk alcoholic beverages. It asks for quite a lot of data:

• Alcohol ppm table

• floor;
• weight;
• height;
• brand of alcohol consumed;
• its quantity;
• presence or absence of snacks.

Having received this data, the program makes calculations and provides drivers with a table of alcohol content in exhaled air and the amount of time for its withdrawal. Some calculators require you to enter degrees of alcohol. You cannot expect absolutely accurate indicators from them; it is better to add 2 hours to the result.

Time table for removing alcohol from the blood

There are several degrees of intoxication:

• light;
• average;
• heavy;
• deadly.

A mild degree of intoxication is characterized by 1-2 ppm in the blood. They leave the body fairly quickly. How much alcohol should you drink to reach an average level? Alcohol should be drunk in an amount of 2-3 ppm. This is an unacceptable dose for driving. In this case, it is better to use it or not to drive at all until you are completely sober.

Severe alcohol intoxication is a level of 3-4 ppm in the blood. At a dose of 5 ppm, a life-threatening condition occurs. It is with this level of alcohol content in the body that drivers end up on a drip.

The effect of alcohol on humans:

1. A mild degree usually occurs immediately after drinking ethanol. The person’s muscles relax, and a feeling of comfort arises. A person most often becomes sociable and active.
2. With moderate intoxication, speech sometimes becomes slurred and monotonous. Coordination of movements is impaired. Rudeness and irritability may appear. Some people show aggression towards others. Memory lapses may occur.
3. With severe intoxication, speech is slurred and memory disappears. The person may lose consciousness.

Punishment cannot be avoided for any degree of intoxication

• How long does alcohol last in a person’s blood: table for the withdrawal of drinks from the blood

To alleviate the condition and quickly remove alcohol from the body, you can do the following:

• drink activated carbon at the rate of 1 tablet per 10 kg of weight;
• drink 500 g of fresh broth with a pinch of cinnamon added to it;
• drink cucumber or tomato pickle, it helps remove alcohol;
• Warm milk and honey will help you get rid of drinking.

If natural remedies don't help much, you can drink black or green tea. As a last resort, Atoxil, Zorex and Limontar are allowed.

A breathalyzer will help drivers in many cases. But the results cannot be evidence in a trial and cannot refute laboratory tests of urine and blood.

What are the dangers of driving while intoxicated?

Drunk driving is an offense in any country . If the ppm rate is too high, the type and amount of the penalty will depend on whether the motorist was detained for the first time for this violation. Penalty for exceeding the indicator:

• a person is detained drunk for the first time - a fine of 30 thousand rubles and deprivation of rights for 1.5-2 years;
• secondary detention – fine 50 thousand rubles, deprivation of rights for 3 years;
• The driver had previously been fined, but got behind the wheel drunk again and faces up to 15 days of detention.

If the motorist refuses a medical examination, the punishment is the same as for the initial arrest. If he gives control of his car to a drunk person, he will also face a fine and deprivation of his license.

During the examination, you need to remain vigilant, since there have been cases of cotton wool soaked in alcohol being placed in the breathalyzer mouthpiece. This distorts the data of the device, which produces a false result. In this way, dishonest traffic police officers impose illegal fines . If a person is sure that he did not drink alcohol, he has the right to request that the mouthpiece be changed to a new one for a re-test.

It is possible that penalties for drunk drivers will soon be toughened, as this is supported by many citizens and State Duma deputies.

Degrees of intoxication

Depending on the level of alcohol in the body, there are 3 degrees of alcohol intoxication:

1. Light – 0.5-1.5‰. The person is a little drunk, behaves freely, relaxed, active, talks a lot and loudly. If he is not burdened with problems, he is in high spirits, but there is a slight incoordination of movements, and due to the acceleration of thinking, consistency and depth of thoughts are lost. Redness of the face and rapid pulse are noted. 2-8 hours after drinking alcohol, drowsiness, lethargy, and depression occur.
2. Average – 1.5-2.5‰. More pronounced symptoms are typical. Speech becomes difficult - it becomes slurred, inarticulate, and the same phrases are often repeated. Thoughts are confused, intellectual abilities decrease, gait is unsteady. At this stage, character traits are revealed. Light, cheerful people are liberated, melancholic people begin to cry and ask for forgiveness. Persons with a rude character become aggressive, tough, irritable, and impulsive.
3. Heavy – 2.5-3‰. Clear signs of severe intoxication. Characterized by serious movement disorders - the inability to stand independently. Disorientation in space, drowsiness, and antisocial behavior are observed. A drunk person behaves aggressively, does not perceive the questions of others, and is in a semi-fainting state. Emotions and speech are incomprehensible. Vomiting, uncontrolled urination, defecation, and convulsions are possible. There is a strong odor of alcohol. Driving a vehicle is out of the question.

If the ppm level reaches 3-5, the anesthesia phase (alcoholic coma) begins. The body cannot control movements, the central nervous system is depressed. If a person comes to his senses while intoxicated, he is unable to remember what happened to him, where he is, does not recognize those around him, and does not orient himself in space.

At ppm equal to 5, the hypertoxic phase begins; at levels of 6-8, the body absorbs a lethal dose of alcohol. Death occurs due to paralysis of the bulbar centers, complications from the cardiovascular and respiratory systems.

The morning after

Alexey Vodovozov “Popular Mechanics” No. 4, 2016

Alcohol is an almost indispensable companion to any holiday in many human cultures. But sometimes such a holiday has unpleasant consequences. Can modern medicine create a hangover cure?

Not so long ago, there was an opinion in the medical community that ethanol is a familiar metabolite (metabolic participant) and that the body produces “endogenous” ethanol, for the disposal of which there are special enzymatic systems. But this statement is outdated: to date, not a single biochemical reaction with the formation of ethyl alcohol has been detected in the internal environment of the body. The key here is the distinction between the internal and external environments of the body.

The internal environment is hidden behind various barriers. Based on this logic, the intestinal lumen is the external environment. It is there that symbiont bacteria live, which are precisely able to produce ethanol using plant materials supplied with food. The volumes of microbial moonshine are not impressive: only about 3 g per day. True, there are such mushrooms, Saccharomyces cerevisiae

), they have started production of ethyl alcohol. Several cases of “self-intoxication syndrome” have been described, when people were permanently in a state of drinking, not understanding why this was happening. They were cured with a course of specialized antifungal drugs and a diet with minimal carbohydrate content.

Ethanol is not a vital substance. It is quite possible to live your life safely without any contact with alcohol at all. But the presence of a separate system for neutralizing ethyl alcohol suggests that not all of our ancestors adhered to “dry” tactics.

Why ethanol is needed

The first reason is food: alcoholic fermentation is one of the most ancient methods of preserving nutrients contained in plants. Like many other things, it was observed in nature, modified and assigned to the task of feeding humanity. The second reason is recreational: consuming first fermented fruits and then specially prepared drinks gave several interesting effects. For example, the attractiveness of the opposite sex increased sharply. An explanation has been found in our time: most people consider symmetrical and regular facial features beautiful, and alcohol dulls the ability to recognize asymmetry.

Another pleasant consequence is euphoria, relaxation, detachment from problems, as well as real physiological pleasure. Not without the reward system, also known as the mesolimbic pathway, a set of neurons that produces dopamine in order to reinforce one or another evolutionarily correct action. If you ate sweets, well done, you provided yourself with scarce energy, and you get a neurotransmitter of pleasure. If you have sex, well done, you are concerned about procreation, sign for the next dose. Psychoactive substances, including alcohol, are able to increase dopamine levels without any intermediaries such as physical activity in search of food or a partner. The brain “evaluates” this and consolidates it as the most preferable way to receive positive emotions. That is why, for some people, alcoholic drinks first become indispensable companions to food and sex, and then gradually displace them, that is, a psychological dependence is formed, and then a physical one (metabolic restructuring occurs). But for those whose frontal lobes are well developed, the level of control over themselves is sufficient and there are no genetic “surprises” in the form of a predisposition to alcoholism, ethanol for a long time, almost all their lives, can remain only a way to “relax a little.”

but on the other hand

However, consuming even moderate doses of ethanol has negative consequences. One of the main ones is a hangover. This word refers to two completely different states.

Firstly, there is alcohol withdrawal syndrome (AAS) - the most natural ethanol withdrawal. Alcohol is a drug that causes both psychological and physical dependence. If, with established alcoholism, the level of ethyl alcohol in the body drops below a critical level, an extremely unpleasant condition arises, which can be gotten rid of in two ways: either drink it or endure it. If, under the pressure of withdrawal symptoms, a person chooses the first option, a binge forms, from which the alcoholic cannot always get out on his own. Secondly, there is vasalgia, which occurs only in non-alcoholics. This is essentially poisoning with the metabolite ethanol and its processing products (metabolites).

Pathway of ethanol in the body

Active absorption begins in the oral cavity, so that the concentration of alcohol in the blood begins to increase immediately, quickly reaching a maximum (30 minutes for usual doses, up to two hours for quantities that are unusually large for a person). Sweet, warm and carbonated drinks with an ethanol content of no more than 20% (percent by volume) are better absorbed, especially on an empty stomach and in small sips. The utilization of ethanol also begins immediately; this process is enzyme-dependent and occurs inside the cells. The main pathway is realized in hepatocytes (liver cells), in the cytosol of which alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) is located. With its help, ethyl alcohol is converted into acetaldehyde. If more alcohol comes in than this system can process, the reserve system turns on, using the enzyme catalase from special cellular organelles of peroxisomes (there are many of them in the neurons of the brain). If these powers are not enough, “microsomal oxidation” is activated, and hepatic cytochrome 2E1 is activated. The second step, the conversion of acetaldehyde to acetic acid, involves only one enzyme, aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), whose main workplace is mitochondria. Then acetic acid from the cell enters the bloodstream, where it participates in the formation of acetyl-coenzyme A, and in this form goes into the Krebs cycle, breaking down into water and carbon dioxide.

Ethanol itself is a powerful reducing agent; it reduces the number of oxidized NAD+, the universal electron carrier in biochemical reactions. This reduces the oxidative potential of the cell and leads to a slowdown in the synthesis of glucose and a decrease in its level in the blood (hypoglycemia), the accumulation of lactic acid and, as a result, a shift in pH to the acidic side (acidosis), an increase in the synthesis of fatty acids and the uptake of fat by liver cells (only reversible with occasional alcohol consumption, when moving to a professional league, it leads to the development of alcoholic fatty liver disease), as well as to a slowdown in protein metabolism. In addition, ethanol inhibits the release of the hormone vasopressin from the pituitary gland, as a result of which sodium, potassium salts, glucose and water pass through the renal tubules without being reabsorbed (reabsorption) and rush straight into the bladder. That is, alcohol acts as a not very gentle diuretic, massively removing substances that are extremely necessary for the body’s functioning. Poisoning with the main metabolite of ethanol, acetaldehyde, also has an effect: it dilates the vessels of the cranial cavity and face, causing headache, nausea, vomiting, trembling, tremor, aching muscles and joints.

Another factor is the toxic effects of side metabolites from the infamous “fusel oils.” This term refers to substances formed during the production of alcoholic beverages. We are mainly talking about various alcohols (methanol, 1-propanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol), ethers (ethyl acetate) and aldehydes (acetic). The more artisanal the drink, the more “fusel” it contains. The raw material also matters: if it contains a lot of pectin (apples, pears, sugar beets, sunflowers), the output will be a noticeable amount of methanol, the lethal dose of which is only about 50 ml. In industrial production, the risk of getting hit from this direction is not so great; there are enzymatic processing technologies that allow minimizing the content of by-products.

Let's add here the products of microsomal oxidation (and it necessarily turns on if too much ethanol has entered the body), associated factors affecting alcohol tolerance (stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, cycle phase in women, mood and many others).

Know your dose

When microsomal oxidation is turned on, that is, when the “own” dose of alcohol is significantly exceeded, the additional pathway of esterification (formation of esters) of fatty acids is also involved. As a result, a mass of substances is formed that can damage cell membranes. Sobering up is slow because it obeys the laws of enzymatic kinetics, primarily the Michaelis-Menten equation. The reaction rate grows rapidly only at the very beginning, then it gradually reaches a plateau: enzymes need a certain minimum time to work with the substrate, for each enzyme this time is different, it is impossible to reduce it.

Remedies for hangover

In 2005 in the British Medical Journal

A meta-analysis (study of studies) on anti-hangover drugs was published. It turned out that only eight studies more or less met the scientific criteria, in which borage (borage), prickly artichoke (sowing), prickly pear cactus, a mixture of dry yeast and multivitamins, tropisetron (an antiemetic drug), propranolol (non-selective β- adrenergic blocker), tolfenamic acid (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) and fructose with glucose. A significant effect was observed in only three. When testing the effectiveness of γ-linolenic acid from borage, a significant reduction was found in both the overall severity of the hangover syndrome and individual symptoms: headache and fatigue - compared to placebo. A mixture of dry yeast and multivitamins reduced symptoms of discomfort and anxiety. Of the four pharmaceuticals (tropisetron, propranolol, tolfenamic acid and fructose/glucose), only tolfenamic acid worked, reducing hangover symptoms such as headache, nausea, vomiting, thirst, dry mouth, tremor and irritability, compared with placebo. Please note: the hangover was not “cured”; only some of its symptoms were reduced, that is, the remedies worked as symptomatic therapy. However, the key concept for any scientific fact is reproducibility. But this is precisely the problem. In 2015, at the annual conference of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, an attempt was made to use these same eight drugs on student volunteers. In all cases, the effect was at the placebo level.

There are no magic pills, no “KGB pills,” no other “anti-hangovers.” If you look into the mechanism of action of such “medicines”, it quickly becomes clear that it is either completely fictitious (“enzyme acceleration”), or is aimed at reducing individual symptoms (and in some cases can also cause serious harm). The only thing you can really do at home is to drink, that is, to at least partially replenish the loss of fluid and electrolytes (fruit drinks, compotes, brines, table mineral waters, low-fat broths), and also sleep, allowing the enzymes to finish their work. Many people have their own recipes for dealing with a hangover, but, as practice shows, they are, at best, not harmful.

But there are also dangerous approaches. For example, drinking too much coffee can worsen dehydration. In addition, caffeine increases the myocardium's need for oxygen, which is already difficult for the heart. Heart attacks due to a hangover are not that rare. In addition, coffee stimulates stomach cells that produce hydrochloric acid, which adds heartburn to the hangover bouquet. Another dangerous way to deal with a hangover is a bath. Theoretically, it should work: toxic metabolites will leave the body faster with sweat. But here we are again faced with worsening dehydration, and very sharp, low oxygen content in the air, high humidity and high ambient temperature, which has an extremely negative impact on the heart. Well, the main harm is done to themselves by those who try to get a hangover, knocking out a wedge with a wedge. Indeed, a very short period of euphoria can be achieved. However, the first-line enzyme systems accelerated to maximum speed (alcohol dehydrogenases, catalases and cytochromes) will very quickly distill all the ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is already in excess in the blood, and the condition will only worsen.

Enzymes and peoples

ADH and ALDH enzymes are different. There are seven known varieties of ADH, and there are two possible variations: “slow” (“European”), which processes an average of 110 mg of ethanol per 1 kg of body weight per hour, and “fast” (“Mongoloid”) - about 130 mg. In people with the first variant of ADH, the state of intoxication lasts longer; in the second case, it quickly passes into the stage of unpleasant consequences. ALDH also comes in two types: ALDH1, the cytosolic, low-throughput enzyme, and ALDH2, the mitochondrial, primary working type of the enzyme. In some people, due to a mutation in one of the loci on chromosome 12, ALDH2 is synthesized incorrectly and completely loses its enzymatic activity. In the owner of both active ALDHs, if there is 0.5‰ ethanol in the blood, the concentration of acetaldehyde will not exceed 2 µmol/l, and if ALDH2 is inactive, it can reach 35 µmol/l.

A person with inactive ALDH2 develops a severe hangover even after small doses of alcohol. If at the same time he also has a “fast” ADH, the meaning of alcohol is completely lost: the euphoric stage is very short, and the consequences are long and varied. On the other hand, we can consider that such an individual is lucky: the biochemical characteristics of the body protect him from alcoholism, in contrast to a person with a “slow” ADH and ALDH2 working at full capacity, for whom alcohol is a joy.

The author is a toxicologist

How long does it take for alcohol to leave the body?

Many motorists do not know that intoxication also includes residual alcohol. If a person drank in the evening and the next day gets behind the wheel, there is a high probability that the breathalyzer will detect alcohol in the exhaled air, but there may be no smell of fumes or symptoms of a hangover.

To calculate the rate of excretion, special online calculators and tables are used, but these methods give errors. How quickly alcohol disappears depends on many factors:

• quality, quantity, strength, type of alcoholic beverages;
• availability of snacks;
• weight, age, gender of a person;
• the rate of production of liver enzymes;
• duration of use;
• health conditions;
• metabolism;
• taking medications.

Strong and carbonated drinks cause intoxication faster. If a person drinks rarely, then euphoria comes quickly. The body of experienced alcoholics is adapted to ethanol and is more resistant to drinking. The average breakdown period for 100 ml of alcohol in men weighing about 80 kg:

• strong drinks (vodka, cognac, whiskey) – 5 hours;
• medium alcohol (champagne, wine) – 2 hours;
• low alcohol (cocktails, beer) – half an hour.

If alcohol leaves the blood and urine, its particles are retained in hard tissues and reproductive organs. It can be detected in semen for 3 weeks or more. In women, it takes longer to break down, which is associated with less muscle mass and structural features of the body.

The main amount of alcohol is found in the blood and urine, as it is well absorbed in liquids . After the first dose, it is absorbed through the mucous membranes of the stomach and enters the blood, and elimination takes an average of a day. The concentration of alcohol in urine depends on the amount of fluid consumed. If a person drinks little water, ethanol levels will be higher. With heavy drinking and frequent urination, the concentration will decrease, and the elimination time will average 5-6 hours.

After drinking alcohol, it is better to stop driving for a day, even if, according to certain calculations, the alcohol has left the body. This will avoid negative consequences.

How long does alcohol stay in a person's blood?

Once in the body, ethanol is absorbed into the blood from the small intestine. With the bloodstream it spreads throughout the body, and in the liver the reaction of neutralizing it as a toxic substance is triggered. To do this, hepatocytes actively begin to produce alcohol dehydrogenase, an enzyme that decomposes ethyl alcohol into harmless components and toxic acetaldehyde. To neutralize the latter, another enzyme is synthesized - acetaldehyde dehydrogenase. It converts the harmful compound into harmless acetic acid.

Thus, the time it takes for alcohol to break down in the blood directly depends on the amount of these two enzymes. It is simply impossible to indicate an exact period; it is individual for everyone and, in addition to the enzymatic activity of the liver, depends on several other factors:

• the volume of drink and its strength - the higher these indicators, the longer it will take to neutralize ethanol and its decay products;
• body weight - the fuller, more massive a person is, the slower he will get drunk and the faster he will sober up;
• gender – women get drunk faster and stay sober longer, since less ADH enzyme is produced in the female body;
• age – a slowdown in metabolism over the years means a decrease in enzymatic activity;
• state of health - a body weakened by illness takes longer to process alcohol in the blood (this is especially true for chronic liver diseases - liver failure and other pathologies);
• the method of drinking alcohol - a large volume drunk at once (“in one gulp”) and the absence of a snack accelerates intoxication and makes it last longer.

Physical activity also affects the rate at which ethanol is eliminated from the body. Mobility activates metabolism, promoting faster sobering.

Therefore, as a result of a feast with dancing in the fresh air, the degree of intoxication is less, and sobering up occurs much faster.

Read further: Is it possible to drink alcohol before donating blood for analysis?

How to speed up alcohol elimination

To speed up detoxification, you need to get a good night's sleep, drink more fluids - plain or mineral still water, green tea, herbal tea, fruit juice, compote. Walking in the fresh air and contrast showers are helpful. In nutrition, it is better to give preference to low-fat dishes, for example, chicken broth.

To bind toxins, you can take activated carbon, Polysorb or Enterosgel. The pharmacy has products to eliminate hangover symptoms and improve your condition:

• Antipohmelin.
• Zorex.
• Corrda.
• Alka-Seltzer et al.

Vitamin complexes containing thiamine and ascorbic acid are also useful.

Drug sobering up by narcologists

To quickly remove alcohol from your body and improve your hangover, contact a private drug treatment clinic for drug detoxification. The procedure is aimed at cleansing the blood of toxins , poisonous breakdown products of ethyl alcohol. Narcologists at a private clinic provide services not only in the hospital, but also at home.

Specialists work anonymously ; none of the neighbors will know that the person asked for help. Customer data is not shared. Detoxification is carried out using droppers, drugs are selected individually. Depending on the client’s condition, the cleansing procedure takes 3-4 hours. Improvements are noticeable even during the infusion. With the help of droppers you can remove alcohol from the blood in 4-5 hours.

With regular drinking, it becomes more difficult for the body to process ethyl alcohol. Liver enzymes do not cope with their task, toxic breakdown products are concentrated in the blood, which leads to chronic intoxication. As alcoholism progresses, a normal hangover is replaced by a withdrawal syndrome, which is almost impossible to cope with without narcologists.

Specialist who checked the article: Myasnikov Veniamin Valerievich

How does alcohol enter the urine and blood?

The first “point” of drinking alcohol is the stomach. Here it is partially absorbed by the walls of the stomach (80%), while the rest of the alcohol is abundantly diluted with gastric juice and enzymes, which the body immediately releases to “fight” the harmful component. A decrease in the production of juice for digestion occurs at the moment when the percentage of alcohol is 5%. It is from this moment that the “path” of alcohol begins through all human systems and organs.

If alcohol was drunk on an empty stomach, then its maximum concentration in the blood will be visible after 40 minutes. For ethyl to get into the urine, it will take a little longer - from 4 to 6 hours. The time of alcohol concentration in urine depends on many features:

• person's age;
• gender (male/female);
• amount of alcohol;
• the period of time between drinking alcohol (during a hangover, the concentration and duration of ethanol elimination doubles);
• duration of drinking alcohol (binge or one feast);
• living conditions (ecology);
• health status and presence/absence of chronic diseases;
• amount of food eaten before and after drinking alcohol.

So, for example, in women the alcohol content in urine and blood will be higher than in men. This fact is due to the characteristics of the body. A young man with a good liver and pancreas releases ethyl twice as quickly as a person with a problem gland. Living conditions and lifestyle also affect not only the degree of intoxication of a person, but also the ability of his body to quickly remove alcohol toxins.