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| Alcohol poisoning |
Alcohol
poisoning
Overview
Alcohol poisoning is a serious — and sometimes
deadly — consequence of drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short period of
time. Drinking too much too quickly can affect your breathing, heart rate, body
temperature and gag reflex and potentially lead to a coma and death.
Alcohol poisoning can also occur when adults
or children accidentally or intentionally drink household products that contain
alcohol.
A person with alcohol poisoning needs
immediate medical attention. If you suspect someone has alcohol poisoning, call
for emergency medical help right away.
Symptoms
Alcohol poisoning signs and symptoms include:
·
Confusion
·
Vomiting
·
Seizures
·
Slow breathing (less
than eight breaths a minute)
·
Irregular breathing (a
gap of more than 10 seconds between breaths)
·
Blue-tinged skin or
pale skin
·
Low body temperature
(hypothermia)
·
Passing out
(unconsciousness) and can't be awakened
When to see a doctor
It's not necessary to have all the above signs
or symptoms before you seek medical help. A person with alcohol poisoning who
is unconscious or can't be awakened is at risk of dying.
Alcohol poisoning is
an emergency
If you suspect that someone has alcohol
poisoning — even if you don't see the classic signs and symptoms — seek
immediate medical care. Here's what to do:
·
Call 1122 or your local
emergency number immediately. Never assume the person will sleep off alcohol
poisoning.
·
Be
prepared to provide information. If you know, be sure to tell hospital or emergency
personnel the kind and amount of alcohol the person drank, and when.
·
Don't
leave an unconscious person alone. Because alcohol poisoning affects the way the gag reflex
works, someone with alcohol poisoning may choke on his or her own vomit and not
be able to breathe. While waiting for help, don't try to make the person vomit
because he or she could choke.
·
Help
a person who is vomiting. Try
to keep him or her sitting up. If the person must lie down, make sure to turn
his or her head to the side — this helps prevent choking. Try to keep the
person awake to prevent loss of consciousness.
Don't be afraid to get
help
It can be difficult to decide if you think
someone is drunk enough to warrant medical intervention, but it's best to err
on the side of caution. You may worry about the consequences for yourself or
your friend or loved one, particularly if you're underage. But the consequences
of not getting the right help in time can be far more serious.
Causes
Alcohol in the form of ethanol (ethyl alcohol)
is found in alcoholic beverages, mouthwash, cooking extracts, some medications
and certain household products. Ethyl alcohol poisoning generally results from
drinking too many alcoholic beverages, especially in a short period of time.
Other forms of alcohol — including isopropyl
alcohol (found in rubbing alcohol, lotions and some cleaning products) and
methanol or ethylene glycol (a common ingredient in antifreeze, paints and
solvents) — can cause other types of toxic poisoning that require emergency
treatment.
Binge drinking
A major cause of alcohol poisoning is binge
drinking — a pattern of heavy drinking when a male rapidly consumes five or
more alcoholic drinks within two hours, or a female rapidly consumes at least
four drinks within two hours. An alcohol binge can occur over hours or last up
to several days.
You can consume a fatal dose before you pass
out. Even when you're unconscious or you've stopped drinking, alcohol continues
to be released from your stomach and intestines into your bloodstream, and the
level of alcohol in your body continues to rise.
How much is too much?
Unlike food, which can take hours to digest,
alcohol is absorbed quickly by your body — long before most other nutrients.
And it takes a lot more time for your body to get rid of the alcohol you've consumed.
Most alcohol is processed (metabolized) by your liver.
The more you drink, especially in a short
period of time, the greater your risk of alcohol poisoning.
One drink is defined as:
·
12 ounces (355
milliliters) of regular beer (about 5 percent alcohol)
·
8 to 9 ounces (237 to
266 milliliters) of malt liquor (about 7 percent alcohol)
·
5 ounces (148
milliliters) of wine (about 12 percent alcohol)
·
1.5 ounces (44
milliliters) of 80-proof hard liquor (about 40 percent alcohol)
Mixed drinks may contain more than one serving
of alcohol and take even longer to metabolize.
Risk factors
A number of factors can increase your risk of
alcohol poisoning, including:
·
Your size and weight
·
Your overall health
·
Whether you've eaten
recently
·
Whether you're
combining alcohol with other drugs
·
The percentage of
alcohol in your drinks
·
The rate and amount of
alcohol consumption
·
Your tolerance level
Complications
Severe complications can result from alcohol
poisoning, including:
·
Choking. Alcohol may cause vomiting. Because it
depresses your gag reflex, this increases the risk of choking on vomit if
you've passed out.
·
Stopping
breathing. Accidentally
inhaling vomit into your lungs can lead to a dangerous or fatal interruption of
breathing (asphyxiation).
·
Severe
dehydration. Vomiting can
result in severe dehydration, leading to dangerously low blood pressure and
fast heart rate.
·
Seizures. Your blood sugar level may drop low
enough to cause seizures.
·
Hypothermia. Your body temperature may drop so low
that it leads to cardiac arrest.
·
Irregular
heartbeat. Alcohol
poisoning can cause the heart to beat irregularly or even stop.
·
Brain
damage. Heavy drinking
may cause irreversible brain damage.
·
Death. Any of the issues above can lead to
death.
Prevention
To avoid alcohol poisoning:
·
Drink
alcohol in moderation, if at all. If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. For
healthy adults, that means up to one drink a day for women of all ages and men
older than age 65, and up to two drinks a day for men age 65 and younger. When
you do drink, enjoy your drink slowly.
·
Don't
drink on an empty stomach. Having
some food in your stomach may slow alcohol absorption somewhat, although it
won't prevent alcohol poisoning if, for example, you're binge drinking.
·
Communicate
with your teens. Talk to your
teenagers about the dangers of alcohol, including binge drinking. Evidence
suggests that children who are warned about alcohol by their parents and who
report close relationships with their parents are less likely to start
drinking.
·
Store
products safely. If you have
small children, store alcohol-containing products, including cosmetics,
mouthwashes and medications, out of their reach. Use child-proof bathroom and
kitchen cabinets to prevent access to household cleaners. Keep toxic items in
your garage or storage area safely out of reach. Consider keeping alcoholic
beverages under lock and key.
·
Get
follow-up care. If you or your
teen has been treated for alcohol poisoning, be sure to ask about follow-up
care. Meeting with a health professional, particularly an experienced chemical
dependency professional, can help you prevent future binge drinking.
Diagnosis
In addition to checking for visible signs and
symptoms of alcohol poisoning, your doctor will likely order blood and urine
tests to check blood alcohol levels and identify other signs of alcohol
toxicity, such as low blood sugar.
Treatment
Alcohol poisoning treatment usually involves
supportive care while your body rids itself of the alcohol. This typically
includes:
·
Careful monitoring
·
Prevention of breathing
or choking problems
·
Oxygen therapy
·
Fluids given through a
vein (intravenously) to prevent dehydration
·
Use of vitamins and
glucose to help prevent serious complications of alcohol poisoning
Adults and children who have accidentally
consumed methanol or isopropyl alcohol may need hemodialysis — a mechanical way
of filtering waste and toxins from your system — to speed the removal of
alcohol from their bloodstream.
Lifestyle and home
remedies
Home remedies for alcohol poisoning won't
work. This is an emergency situation.
Dangerous myths
You can't reverse the effects of alcohol
poisoning, and you could actually make things worse through some actions.
Here's what doesn't work:
·
Sleeping it off — you
can lose consciousness while asleep
·
Black coffee or caffeine
― this does not counteract the effects of alcohol poisoning
·
A cold shower — the
shock of cold can cause a loss of consciousness
·
Walking it off ― this
does not increase the speed at which alcohol leaves your body
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