Abstract
We thank the author of the Letter to the Editor for the interest in our article and the discussion about it. We appreciate the suggestions for possible explanations of the difference of measured and expected blood ethanol concentration. In fact, we hypothesized the age-related decrease in total body water as a cause without claiming it was the only possible reason. Briefly, we want to comment on the alternative causes and add some supplementary information about our drinking experiment.
For study purposes we have commonly used a mean “resorption” deficit of 20% and achieved good results with it. Therewith the intended and measured blood ethanol concentrations have often matched very well, which was the case for all other participants in the drinking experiment.
As regards the BAC curve, we did not observe a rapid decline of the BAC or other peculiarities of its course. Only the high maximum concentration attracted attention.
As the author of the letter stated, it was our foremost intention to advise caution when solely using equations for BAC calculations. Furthermore, we went into the matter and we are currently performing drinking experiments with elderly people.