[luk32]

The article is tautological. It basically says that only some people get blackouts because they tolerate alcohol differently. It's like saying only some people blackout because only some drink.

I thought some people can't experience it. It seems they just didn't get drunk enough.

[nikdaheratik]

No it isn't. The article mentions alot of science to back this up. It starts with brain scans from mice studies, which suggest that blackouts are caused by cells in the hippocampus failing to make new memories correctly. It then mentions case studies of people who have brain damage in this area that also are unable to make new memories.

From there, it talks about twin studies which suggest there is a link between some genes and blackouts. What it's saying is that alcohol is processed slightly differently in some individuals so that it causes cells in the hippocampus to misfire and keep them from making new memories. This misfiring only seems to happen above certain blood alcohol levels. This is similar to how some individuals seem to be better (or worse) at processing alcohol, even controlling for other factors, which affects whether they pass out, or get poisoning, etc.

The bottom line is that alcohol causes different effects in the brain and turns off different parts of the higher functions at different blood alcohol levels. This can vary between individuals. In some people, they become more aggressive, or friendly, or lose their balance more easily than others. For certain individuals, they lose the ability to make new memories at high levels.

[vanderZwan]

By your logic, the following two statements are alike:

- only people who drive cars can crash their car

- only some people who drive cars crash their car

I don't see that, and I don't see how the BBC article - claiming the same thing as the latter statement, is tautological. It has a whole list of known risk factors too.