Posted by cybercafe on November 15, 2002, at 20:44:58
In reply to Re: Can you really not drink alcohol or what?, posted by Larry Hoover on November 15, 2002, at 19:54:05
> > i was told that alcohol takes at least 2.5 days to be processed by your liver, during which time any meds you take get ... uh... urinated out unmetabolized... so you may as well just not take any meds and save yourself the cash
> >
> > (you should probably verify this though :) )
> >
>
> That's not true....
>
> Alcohol takes much less than 2 1/2 days to be metabolized. Most people can process about 1 oz. of alcohol per hour, give or take.
>
> Alcohol competes with other substances for the liver enzyme CYP2E1 (which is also found in the gut). Any drug metabolized by 2E1 will *not* be eliminated, but instead, will remain at a high level in the blood. Some tricyclics, or acetominophen (paracetemol in U.K.) are examples of drugs using the 2E1 enzyme. The effect will be similar to overdosing.
>
> Now, that's the simple case. Chronic alcohol consumption, however, causes the body to produce a larger amount of the 2E1 enzyme (the enzyme is said to be induced). Heavy drinkers will process drugs using the 2E1 enzyme faster than normal. The result will be similar to underdosing on the med.
>
> This isn't to be taken literally (because there are exceptions to everything), but when the liver processes a drug, it changes the structure a little bit so that the kidneys can recognize that the substance should be excreted. Think of it like placing a bar code on the molecule. When the kidney scans the bar-coded substance, out it goes in the urine. So, if the liver's work is inhibited, the substance just stays in circulation in the blood.hmmm.. fascinating! .. but i thought there were enzymes that were shared between all substances, like ALT, AST alkaline phosphatase etc etc
poster:cybercafe
thread:127809
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021108/msgs/127862.html