Word: stomachal
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...first time I had to pull an inflated squishy black leech off my leg, I have to admit I felt slightly sick to my stomach. Somehow, it had attached itself at both ends, and I had a hard time getting...
...nothing to do with macho and only a little to do with body size. A new study says the biggest factor is that men produce more of an enzyme that breaks down alcohol in the stomach...
...long wondered if there might not be a more compelling biochemical explanation for the drinking puzzle. Last week a team of Italian and American researchers offered what looks to be the answer: women have far smaller quantities of the protective enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase that breaks down alcohol in the stomach...
...enzyme is crucial in curbing intoxication. When a shot of vodka or a beer is swallowed, it travels to the stomach and then to the intestine, where it passes through the organ's wall into the bloodstream. Once there it circulates to the brain, where it finally exerts its inebriating effect. Alcohol dehydrogenase breaks down spirits in the stomach, reducing the amount of pure alcohol that enters the bloodstream about 20%; the rest is eventually metabolized by similar enzymes in the liver...
According to a study of 43 men and women reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, women possess significantly less of the active stomach enzyme. The result is that they absorb about 30% more alcohol into their bloodstreams than men do -- and voila! Taking into account the weight difference between the average man and woman, a mere 2 oz. of liquor has about the same effect on a woman as 4 oz. would on a man. Just why there is such a discrepancy remains a mystery...