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Alcohol Metabolism Quiz
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According to UK guidance, what is the maximum weekly alcohol intake that adults are advised not to regularly exceed?
- A Twenty-one units of alcohol per week You picked ✕
- B Seven units of alcohol per week You picked ✕
- C Fourteen units of alcohol per week You picked ✓
- D Ten units of alcohol per week You picked ✕
- E Twenty-eight units of alcohol per week You picked ✕
Correct!
Incorrect
The answer is C: Fourteen units of alcohol per week
Explanation
Why C is correct
See Alcohol. Option C is correct. UK guidance advises men and women not to drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week on a regular basis. The limit is the same for both sexes. A unit is a way of measuring the amount of pure alcohol in a drink: one UK unit is 8 g or 10 ml of pure alcohol, which is roughly the amount that the average adult can process in an hour. The number of units in a drink depends on both its size and its strength (alcohol by volume, or ABV, the percentage of the liquid that is pure alcohol). For example, 14 units is about 6 pints of average-strength beer or 10 small glasses of lower-strength wine. The advice is also to spread the drinking over three or more days, and to have several drink-free days each week. The reason for a limit is that alcohol is mainly metabolised in the liver, where enzyme capacity is limited, so heavy intake leads to a build-up of toxic metabolites and, over time, to liver disease. Memory aid: fourteen units, for everyone, spread over at least three days.
- Limit: No more than 14 units a week on a regular basis, for men and women alike.
- Unit: One UK unit is 8 g or 10 ml of pure alcohol.
- Pattern: Spread the drinking over three or more days, with several drink-free days.
Why the other options are incorrect
- A. Twenty-one units of alcohol per week: Twenty-one units is above the current UK low-risk limit of fourteen units, which applies equally to men and women. Your answer
- B. Seven units of alcohol per week: Seven units is half of the UK limit. It is a stricter level than the guidance and not the recommended weekly maximum. Your answer
- D. Ten units of alcohol per week: Ten units is not a recognised UK threshold. The recommended weekly maximum is fourteen units, which is higher than this. Your answer
- E. Twenty-eight units of alcohol per week: Twenty-eight units is double the recommended weekly limit and would carry a much higher risk of alcohol-related harm. Your answer
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1
Which enzyme is inhibited by disulfiram, producing unpleasant symptoms if alcohol is then drunk?
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2
A 26-year-old woman drinks heavily after eating very little for two days. She develops hypoglycaemia. Her liver glycogen stores are depleted. Which effect of ethanol metabolism best explains her reduced ability to maintain blood glucose?
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