CASE STUDY

Case Study

Case Study

Scenario

Imagine that you have a friend named Carl who drinks each night. Carl is 30 years old, 5''10 and in good physical shape. You notice that he has been the amount he drinks on a regular basis, yet he never seems to be affected by this increase amount. Carl knows that you are taking a class in alcohol abuse and asks you to explain to him why he has to drink more to get the same high that he used to get from much less. How can you answer Carl? In a written response, explain how alcohol is metabolized and how tolerance develops. Define the processes, the enzymes used and the substances that result from tolerance. IN addition, explain what could happen to Carl if he continues to drink. Outline a minimum of three medical complications he could develop because of chronic use.

Analysis

I explain to Carl as Alcohol consumption interferes with many bodily functions and affects behavior. However, after chronic alcohol consumption, the drinker often develops tolerance to at least some of alcohol's effects. (Pohorecky, Brick, Carpenter 2006)Tolerance means that after continued drinking, consumption of a constant amount of alcohol produces a lesser effect or increasing amounts of alcohol are necessary to produce the same effect.

Carl tolerance to alcohol's effects influences on you as drinking behavior and drinking consequences in several ways. This Alcohol Alert describes how tolerance may encourage alcohol consumption, contributing to alcohol dependence and organ damage; affect the performance of tasks, (Tabakoff, Kiianmaa 2006) such as driving, while under the influence of alcohol; contribute to the ineffectiveness or toxicity of other drugs and medications; and may contribute to the risk for alcoholism

Carl although tolerance to most alcohol effects develops over time and over several drinking sessions, it also has been observed within a single drinking session. This phenomenon is called acute tolerance . It means that alcohol-induced impairment is greater when measured soon after beginning alcohol consumption than when measured later in the drinking session, even if the BAC is the same at both times (8-10).

Carl you know that the acute tolerance does not develop to all effects of alcohol but does develop to the feeling of intoxication experienced after alcohol consumption . This may prompt the drinker to consume more alcohol, (Tabakoff, Kiianmaa 2006) which in turn can impair performance or bodily functions that do not develop acute tolerance.

Carl if you continue to drink the development of tolerance to alcohol's effects over several drinking sessions is accelerated if alcohol is always administered in the same environment or is accompanied by the same cues. This effect has been called environment-dependent tolerance. Rats that regularly received alcohol in one room and a placebo in a different room demonstrated tolerance to the sedative and temperature-lowering effects of alcohol only in the alcohol-specific environment . Similar results were found when an alcohol-induced increase in heart rate was studied in humans (Pohorecky, Brick, Carpenter 2006). When the study subjects always received alcohol in the same room, their heart ...