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In the body, ethanol primarily affects the central nervous system, acting as a depressant and causing sedation, relaxation, and decreased anxiety. The complete list of mechanisms remains an area of research, but ethanol has been shown to affect ligand-gated ion channels, particularly the GABA A receptor .
Inside the brain, alcohol binds to several different receptors, calming down the sympathetic nervous system, lowering stress, fear, and anxiety — helping press pause on life's worries.
Alcohol (from Arabic al-kuḥl 'the kohl'), [11] sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the second most consumed psychoactive drug globally behind caffeine. [12] Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing electrical activity of neurons in the brain. [13]
The short-term effects of alcohol consumption range from a decrease in anxiety and motor skills at lower doses to unconsciousness, anterograde amnesia, and central nervous system depression at higher doses. Cell membranes are highly permeable to alcohol, so once alcohol is in the bloodstream it can diffuse into nearly every cell in the body.
The digestive system has a complex system of motility and secretion regulation which is vital for proper function. This task is accomplished via a system of long reflexes from the central nervous system (CNS), short reflexes from the enteric nervous system (ENS) and reflexes from GI peptides working in harmony with each other.
Damage to the central nervous system and peripheral nervous system can occur from sustained alcohol consumption. [44] [45] A wide range of immunologic defects can result and there may be a generalized skeletal fragility, in addition to a recognized tendency to accidental injury, resulting in a propensity for bone fractures. [46]
The central nervous system (CNS) is the part of the nervous system consisting primarily of the brain and spinal cord.The CNS is so named because the brain integrates the received information and coordinates and influences the activity of all parts of the bodies of bilaterally symmetric and triploblastic animals—that is, all multicellular animals except sponges and diploblasts.
“Alcohol is used to help or try to regulate the nervous system when it’s used to soothe anxiety and depression, but we’re learning there are other ways to soothe our nervous system,” says ...