A normal liver clears only about eight grams of ethanol hourly
That equals one British standard unit—and damaged livers run slower. Intoxication usually starts after two or more drinks; legal BAC cutoffs often sit between 0.025 and 0.080 percent, while levels above 0.3 percent can stop breathing.
Alcohol intoxication is the behavioral and bodily fallout of recent drinking—tipsy at the mild end, drunkenness higher up, and alcohol poisoning in overdose. Low doses may bring light sedation and clumsy coordination; higher ones add slurred speech, unsteady gait, blurred vision, mood swings, and vomiting; extremes depress breathing, cause coma, or kill. Acetaldehyde, an ethanol metabolite, can add physiological trouble. Diagnosis leans on history and exam; legally, many jurisdictions treat intoxication as a BAC above roughly one-quarter to eight-tenths of a tenth of one percent (about 25–80 mg per decilitre).
The body buys time only so fast. A healthy liver metabolizes about eight grams of pure ethanol per hour—one British unit—while hepatitis, cirrhosis, or related disease slows clearance. As BAC climbs past about 0.3 percent, respiration can fail; unconscious people may inhale vomit and later develop pneumonia. Roughly one-third of alcohol-related deaths are estimated to come from accidents, and about 14 percent from intentional injury. Metabolic hits include hypoglycemia from blocked gluconeogenesis (especially risky in children), lactic or ketoacidosis, kidney injury, and hypothermia.
Care is mostly supportive: recovery position, warmth, and watching the airway. Gastric lavage and activated charcoal have not proved useful. Blood tests confirm levels; breathalyzers and field sobriety checks serve law enforcement as faster proxies, while consumer gadgets vary and deserve cautious reading. Informal parlor tests are unreliable for deciding whether someone can drive or operate machinery. In severe poisoning, teams protect the airway, may give thiamine to help prevent Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome, consider hemodialysis above very high concentrations (over about 130 mmol/L), and treat glucose or electrolyte problems. Metadoxine might speed alcohol breakdown in some countries, but as of 2017 evidence for intoxication use still needed more study.
Source: Alcohol intoxication
