Question

A 21-year-old man walks into the clinic. He has the following clinical signs: loud, slurred speech, ataxic gait, uncoordinated extremity movement, the odor of alcohol is detected on his breath. Using the lipid bi layer structure of the cell membrane explain his clinical signs.

Answer 1

answer

alcohol consumption affects almost all system in our body . alcohol once ingested it is rapidly absorbed through lining of stomach to blood stream , which then diffuse to tissues . these are due to the property of lipid bilayer of cell membrane. alcohol reaches brain in only 5 minutes, with immediate effect appear in 10 minutes.

lipid bilayer is a thin polar membrane made of two layer of lipid molecules, they are made up of amphiphilic phospholipid that have hydrophilic phosphate head and a hydrophobic tail consisting of two fatty acid chains . this bilayer can adopt a solid gel phase state at lower temperature but undergo phase transition to a fluid state at lower temperature . . they are impermiable to most water soluble molecules, small uncharged polar molecules passively diffuse through lipid bilayer very fastly , than ions or water .this is applicable to chloroform , ether , alcohol.. that is why alchohol effect will come earlier after intake and smell of alchohol in breath also .

alcohol affect brain , deponds on some factors like

how much and how often drinks

age at which he started drinking

his general health status

gender , genetic background ,family history of alchoholism

alchohol blocks chemical signal between brain cells , neurons and leads to symptoms such as intoxication , impulsive behavior , slurred speech , poor memory , slowed reflexes.