Alcohol & Drug problems or questions?

[In-Human]

So ask yourself how does drinking alcohol affect your muscle-building efforts, well several studies show that it doesn't matter whether you drink occasionally or frequently, alcohol consumption results in adverse effects on muscle growth. Alcohol decreases protein synthesis and affects Type II muscle fibers, used in explosive kinds of activities like intense weight training, more than Type I used in endurance kinds of activities. Excessive use of alcohol or binge drinking can result in decreased levels of testosterone and increased levels of cortisol this has a direct effect on muscle cells that can result in significant muscle wasting, especially if protein intake is not adequate...

[In-Human]

In order to get bigger and stronger, your body needs sleeps to repair itself after workouts, because of alcohol's effect on sleep, however, your body is robbed of GH, GH is part of the normal muscle building and repair process and the body's way of telling itself your muscle needs to get bigger and stronger. Alcohol can decrease the secretion of GH by as much as 70 percent, when alcohol is in your body, the production of a substance in your liver is triggered that is directly toxic to testosterone, a hormone essential to the development and recovery of your muscles. Speeding the recovery of sore muscles and injuries is a majot part of performance, alcohol is a toxin that travels through your bloodstream to every organ and tissue in your body, thus slowing your body's ability to heal itself. Once alcohol is absorbed through your stomach and small intestine and finally into your cells, it can disrupt the water balance in muscle cells, thus altering their ability to produce adenosine triphosphate, which is your muscles' source of energy, ATP provides the fuel necessary for your muscles to contract. the best way foir your system to rid itself of alcohol is by fluids, so you become dehydrated and being dehydrated causes catabolism, ever notice you drink all night and wake up thirsty...

[In-Human]

I had this in my files, not sure the author:

When a person drinks alcohol, it is absorbed by blood vessels in the stomach lining and flows rapidly throughout the body and brain, as ethanol freely crosses the blood-brain barrier that ordinarily keeps large molecules from escaping from the blood vessel to the brain tissue. Drunkenness, or intoxication, may occur at blood ethanol concentrations of as low as 50-150 mg per dL in people who don't drink. Sleepiness, stupor, coma, or even death from respiratory depression and low blood pressure occur at progressively higher concentrations.

Although alcohol is broken down by the liver, the toxic effects from a high dose of alcohol are most likely a direct result of alcohol itself rather than of its breakdown products. The fatal dose varies widely because people who drink heavily develop a tolerance to the effects of alcohol with repeated use. In addition, alcohol tolerance results in the need for higher levels of blood alcohol to achieve intoxicating effects, which increases the likelihood that habitual drinkers will be exposed to high and potentially toxic levels of ethanol. This is particularly true when binge drinkers fail to eat, because fasting decreases the rate of alcohol clearance and causes even higher blood alcohol levels.

When a chronic alcoholic suddenly stops drinking, withdrawal of alcohol leads to a syndrome of increased excitability of the central nervous system, called delirium tremens or "DTs." Symptoms begin six to eight hours after abstinence, and are most pronounced 24-72 hours after abstinence. They include body shaking (tremulousness), insomnia, agitation, confusion, hearing voices or seeing images that are not really there (such as crawling bugs), seizures, rapid heart beat, profuse sweating, high blood pressure, and fever. Alcohol-related seizures may also occur without withdrawal, such as during active heavy drinking or after more than a week without alcohol.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is caused by deficiency of the B-vitamin thiamine, and can also be seen in people who don't drink but have some other cause of thiamine deficiency, such as chronic vomiting that prevents the absorption of this vitamin. Patients with this condition have the sudden onset of Wernicke encephalopathy; the symptoms include marked confusion, delirium, disorientation, inattention, memory loss, and drowsiness. Examination reveals abnormalities of eye movement, including jerking of the eyes (nystagmus) and double vision. Problems with balance make walking difficult. People may have trouble coordinating their leg movements, but usually not their arms. If thiamine is not given promptly, Wernicke encephalopathy may progress to stupor, coma, and death.

If thiamine is given and death averted, Korsakoff's syndrome may develop in some patients, who suffer from memory impairment that leaves them unable to remember events for a period of a few years before the onset of illness (retrograde amnesia) and unable to learn new information (anterograde amnesia). Most patients have very limited insight into their memory dysfunction and have a tendency to make up explanations for events they have forgotten (confabulation).

Severe alcoholism can cause cerebellar degeneration, a slowly progressive condition affecting portions of the brain called the anterior and superior cerebellar vermis, causing a wide-based gait, leg incoordination, and an inability to walk heel-to-toe in tightrope fashion. The gait disturbance usually develops over several weeks, but may be relatively mild for some time, and then suddenly worsen after binge drinking or an unrelated illness.

Fetal alcohol syndrome occurs in infants born to alcoholic mothers when prenatal exposure to ethanol retards fetal growth and development. Affected infants often have a distinctive appearance with a thin upper lip, flat nose and mid-face, short stature and small head size. Almost half are mentally retarded, and most others are mildly impaired intellectually or have problems with speech, learning, and behavior.

Alcoholic myopathy, or weakness secondary to breakdown of muscle tissue, is also known as alcoholic rhabdomyolysis or alcoholic myoglobinuria. Males are affected by acute (sudden onset) alcoholic myopathy four times as often as females. Breakdown of muscle tissue (myonecrosis), can come on suddenly during binge drinking or in the first days of alcohol withdrawal. In its mildest form, this breakdown may cause no noticeable symptoms, but may be detected by a temporary elevation in blood levels of an enzyme found predominantly in muscle, the MM fraction of creatine kinase.

The severe form of acute alcoholic myopathy is associated with the sudden onset of muscle pain, swelling, and weakness; a reddish tinge in the urine caused by myoglobin, a breakdown product of muscle excreted in the urine; and a rapid rise in muscle enzymes in the blood. Symptoms usually worsen over hours to a few days, and then improve over the next week to 10 days as the patient is withdrawn from alcohol. Muscle symptoms are usually generalized, but pain and swelling may selectively involve the calves or other muscle groups. The muscle breakdown of acute alcoholic myopathy may be worsened by crush injuries, which may occur when people drink so much that they compress a muscle group with their body weight for a long time without moving, or by withdrawal seizures with generalized muscle activity.

In patients who abuse alcohol over many years, chronic alcoholic myopathy may develop. Males and females are equally affected. Symptoms include painless weakness of the limb muscles closest to the trunk and the girdle muscles, including the thighs, hips, shoulders, and upper arms. This weakness develops gradually, over weeks or months, without symptoms of acute muscle injury. Muscle atrophy, or decreased bulk, may be striking. The nerves of the extremities may also begin to break down, a condition known as alcoholic peripheral neuropathy, which can add to the person's difficulty in moving.

The way in which alcohol destroys muscle tissue is still not well understood. Proposed mechanisms include muscle membrane changes affecting the transport of calcium, potassium, or other minerals; impaired muscle energy metabolism; and impaired protein synthesis. Alcohol is metabolized or broken down primarily by the liver, with a series of chemical reactions in which ethanol is converted to acetate. Acetate is metabolized by skeletal muscle, and alcohol-related changes in liver function may affect skeletal muscle metabolism, decreasing the amount of blood sugar available to muscles during prolonged activity. Because not enough sugar is available to supply needed energy, muscle protein may be broken down as an alternate energy source. However, toxic effects on muscle may be a direct result of alcohol itself rather than of its breakdown products.

Although alcoholic peripheral neuropathy may contribute to muscle weakness and atrophy by injuring the motor nerves controlling muscle movement, alcoholic neuropathy more commonly affects sensory fibers. Injury to these fibers can cause tingling or burning pain in the feet, which may be severe enough to interfere with walking. As the condition worsens, pain decreases but numbness increases...

[jjjxmmmxbbb]

great thread!