Alcohol intoxication

"Drunk" redirects here. For the songs, see Drunk (Jimmy Liggins song) and Drunk (Ed Sheeran song). Contributors Alcohol intoxication Classification and external resources Michelangelo drunken Noah.jpg The Drunkenness of Noah by Michelangelo ICD-10 F10.0, T51 ICD-9 305.0, 980 MedlinePlus 002644 MeSH D000435 Alcohol intoxication (also known as drunkenness or inebriation) is a physiological state induced by the ingestion of ethyl alcohol (ethanol). Alcohol intoxication is the consequence of alcohol entering the bloodstream faster than it can be metabolized by the liver, which breaks down the ethanol into non-intoxicating byproducts. Some effects of alcohol intoxication (such as euphoria and lowered social inhibitions) are central to alcohol's desirability as a beverage and its history as one of the world's most widespread recreational drugs. Despite this widespread use and alcohol's legality in most countries, many medical sources tend to describe any level of alcohol intoxication as a form of poisoning due to ethanol's damaging effects on the body in large doses, and some religions consider alcohol intoxication to be a sin. Symptoms of alcohol intoxication include euphoria, flushed skin and decreased social inhibition at lower doses, with larger doses producing progressively severe impairments of balance, muscle coordination (ataxia), and decision-making ability (potentially leading to violent or erratic behavior) as well as nausea or vomiting from alcohol's disruptive effect on the semicircular canals of the inner ear and chemical irritation of the gastric mucosa. Sufficiently high levels of blood-borne alcohol will cause coma and death from the depressive effects of alcohol upon the central nervous system. "Acute alcohol poisoning" is a related medical term used to indicate a dangerously high concentration of alcohol in the blood, high enough to induce coma, respiratory depression, or even death. It is considered a medical emergency. The term is mostly used by healthcare providers. Toxicologists use the term "alcohol intoxication" to discriminate between alcohol and other toxins.