Abstract
Tolerance to alcohol means an increase in the tolerance of alcohol during its repeated use. We make alcohol tolerance functional, acute, learned and metabolic.
There are both ethnic and individual differences in alcohol tolerance. Lower rates of low alcohol dehydrogenase or reduced aldehyde dehydrogenase activity are found in Native Americans and Australians and Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans.
Children from alcoholic families and people with certain character traits are at risk of becoming alcoholics. Alcohol in the brain increases the effective γ-aminobutyric acid, which has a sedative effect, and stimulates the secretion of dopamine and serotonin.
The interplay between genetic predispositions and environmental influences are responsible for the development of alcohol tolerance and drinking and addiction.