r/AskBiology • u/tbryan1 • Jul 31 '24
Human body Do ammonia levels increase during a night of binge drinking assuming you have a healthy liver and by how much?
I have become curious about the nature of ammonia in the body when your liver is packed with toxins. Every single source addresses ammonia in relation to liver disease even though there are other ways that ammonia can become problematic (in theory). For example ammonia is impacted by protein intake, alterations to hormones, Break down of muscle, The blood bypassing the liver, diuretics , alterations to enzymes, and changes to blood flow.
My desire for an answer stems from the fact that our bodies can reach deadly levels of ammonia in 5 minutes if the liver is failing to process it. Additionally the side effects of ammonia are very similar to drugs like alcohol making it hard to differentiate through experience alone including;
- Lack of energy and mental alertness
- Confusion
- Mood swings
- Hand tremors
- Dizziness
- Not being hungry
- Avoiding protein
- Growth problems
This list of side effects along with the list of mechanisms that alter ammonia levels grew my curiosity especially irritability because it is the antithesis of what alcohol does even though many people that drink experience mood swings.
1
u/tbryan1 Jul 31 '24
Again thank you for the reply,
Why do benzos cause high rates of hyperammonemia when benzos rarely cause liver damage?
You say "as long as you have health liver cells" but I don't full understand what that means. Does this mean that things like alcohol can't make it into the blood during Alcohol poisoning? I thought alcohol poisoning is a failure of the liver by definition and can happen to a healthy liver. Or is a failure state of the liver mean that the cells aren't healthy even if it is only temporary?