Why does my heartrate increase when I drink alcohol?!
Question: Why does my heartrate increase when I drink alcohol!?
If alcohol is a depressant, shouldn't my heart rate slow down after a few drinks!? Instead, mine races!.
I've asked this question before, and the only answer I received mentioned that caffeine from soft drinks could be the culprit, but I don't drink any sort of soda!. I usually have this reaction from drinking beer or wine!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
I've asked this question before, and the only answer I received mentioned that caffeine from soft drinks could be the culprit, but I don't drink any sort of soda!. I usually have this reaction from drinking beer or wine!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
This could be part of the human body's way of recalibrating!. Drinking alcohol causes your blood vessels to dilate which dips your blood pressure!. Your body in an effort to keep your circulation moving increases your heart rate to compensate!. Moreover, excessive concentration of acetaldehyde not being synthesized into acetic acid could cause your body to contain more acetaldehyde than normal magnifying the tachycardic effects!.
The MadSci say: Alcohol is a vasodilator, which means that it makes the peripheral blood vessels relax allowing more blood to flow through the skin and tissues!. This is why people who have had a drink look red faced and feel warm!. This means that the blood flows round a larger volume of the body, which results in a drop in blood pressure!. Therefore, to maintain sufficient blood flow through the organs of the body the heart rate increases to accommodate for the increased volume that it has to send the blood round!.
As far as Acetaldehyde: In the liver, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is then further converted into harmless acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase!. The last steps of alcoholic fermentation in bacteria, plants and yeast involve the conversion of pyruvate into acetaldehyde by the enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase, followed by the conversion of acetaldehyde into ethanol!. The latter reaction is again catalyzed by an alcohol dehydrogenase, now operating in the opposite direction!.
In another article: The slight heart rate-enhancing effects that may follow alcohol ingestion would therefore seem to be related to its neurohumoral actions--that is, alcohol's action on the nervous system and the adrenal gland!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
The MadSci say: Alcohol is a vasodilator, which means that it makes the peripheral blood vessels relax allowing more blood to flow through the skin and tissues!. This is why people who have had a drink look red faced and feel warm!. This means that the blood flows round a larger volume of the body, which results in a drop in blood pressure!. Therefore, to maintain sufficient blood flow through the organs of the body the heart rate increases to accommodate for the increased volume that it has to send the blood round!.
As far as Acetaldehyde: In the liver, the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is then further converted into harmless acetic acid by acetaldehyde dehydrogenase!. The last steps of alcoholic fermentation in bacteria, plants and yeast involve the conversion of pyruvate into acetaldehyde by the enzyme pyruvate decarboxylase, followed by the conversion of acetaldehyde into ethanol!. The latter reaction is again catalyzed by an alcohol dehydrogenase, now operating in the opposite direction!.
In another article: The slight heart rate-enhancing effects that may follow alcohol ingestion would therefore seem to be related to its neurohumoral actions--that is, alcohol's action on the nervous system and the adrenal gland!.Www@Answer-Health@Com