Author: James Anderson
Alcohol Intoxication: Acute, Symptoms, Treatments, Signs, and More
Alcohol poisoning can be life-threatening and needs immediate medical care. Alcoholic drinks contain a form of alcohol known as ethyl alcohol or ethanol. This is also found in mouthwashes, some medicines, and household products. Poisoning happens when you drink too much ethyl alcohol in a short space of time. Other kinds of alcohol that you might have around the house, such as isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) and methanol (wood alcohol), are toxic in a different way. The more you drink, especially in a short period of time, the greater your risk of alcohol poisoning.
Other long-term complications of heavy alcohol use include addiction, cancer, cirrhosis, liver disease, vitamin deficiencies, and mental health problems. It also increases the risk of unintentional injuries due to falls, drowning, assault, and car accidents. Alcohol in the form of ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, is in alcoholic beverages.
It’s also in mouthwash, some cooking extracts, some medicines and certain household products. Ethyl alcohol poisoning generally results from drinking too many alcoholic beverages in a short period of time. Individual factors include age, gender, family circumstances and socio-economic status. Although there is no single risk factor that is dominant, the more vulnerabilities a person has, the more likely the person is to develop alcohol-related problems as a result of alcohol consumption.
What is the prognosis for alcohol poisoning?
You shouldn’t try to treat it at home or “sleep it off.” A major danger of alcohol poisoning is choking on your vomit, which can happen when you’re unconscious or sleeping. Your doctor can diagnose alcohol poisoning based on your symptoms. They’ll also order blood and urine tests to check your alcohol levels.
If you think someone is experiencing alcohol poisoning, seek emergency medical attention immediately. If the depressant effects begin affecting key functions of your body, like your breathing and consciousness, it’s considered alcohol poisoning. Every person is different, so there’s no way to know how much you can drink before you’re at risk of alcohol poisoning. That’s why you should always drink in moderation and slowly.
- At this stage, a person’s BAC will range from 0.25 to 0.4 percent.
- The good news is that it’s possible to survive alcohol intoxication if appropriate medical treatment is given promptly.
- Anyone who cannot be awakened or is unconscious is at risk of dying.
- In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alcohol consumption is forbidden,[66] and teetotalism has become a distinguishing feature of its members.
By working together effectively, the negative health and social consequences of alcohol can be reduced. A variety of factors which affect the levels and patterns of alcohol consumption and the magnitude of alcohol-related problems in populations have been identified at individual and societal levels. Alcohol poisoning typically happens when you consume a large amount of alcohol in a short amount of time. It often happens from drinking excess alcohol-containing beverages, like beer, wine and/or liquor. But it can also occur due to non-beverage alcohol (ethanol), which is in things like mouthwash, cologne and cough medicine. Alcohol poisoning happens when excess alcohol in your bloodstream starts affecting life-supporting functions, like your breathing, heart rate and consciousness.
People who accidentally consume methanol or isopropyl alcohol may need hemodialysis. This is a mechanical way of filtering waste and toxins from the blood. A mixed drink or cocktail could have more than one serving of alcohol in it. In some countries, there are special facilities, sometimes known as “drunk tanks”, for the temporary detention of persons found to be drunk. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates excessive alcohol use causes approximately 88,000 deaths annually in the United States.
How do increasing levels of alcohol affect the body?
Hypoglycaemia occurs due to ethanol’s inhibition of gluconeogenesis, especially in children, and may cause lactic acidosis, ketoacidosis, and acute kidney injury. Metabolic acidosis is compounded by respiratory failure. The stages of intoxication differ from person to person because they’re based on age, sex, weight, and other factors. More than 2,200 people die from alcohol poisoning each year, an average of six people per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most are men, and three in four people are between the ages of 35 and 65.
Your liver breaks down alcohol to remove it from your body because it’s a toxin. But when BAC levels are high, your liver can’t remove the toxins quickly enough. There is no way to eliminate the risk of alcohol poisoning. The best way to reduce your risk is to keep your alcohol consumption low or consider non-alcoholic beverages as an alternative. Consuming alcoholic beverages leads to increases in your blood alcohol concentration (BAC). As your BAC increases, so does your risk for alcohol poisoning.
This is when a male rapidly consumes five or more alcoholic drinks within two hours or a female consumes at least four drinks within two hours. An alcohol binge can occur over hours or last up to several days. Alcohol intoxication is considered a medical emergency.
Even when the person is unconscious or stops drinking, the stomach and intestines continue to release alcohol into the bloodstream, and the level of alcohol in the body continues to rise. If you think that someone has alcohol poisoning, seek medical care right away. It’s not necessary to have all the above symptoms before seeking medical help. A person with alcohol poisoning who has passed out or can’t wake up could die.
Dangerous myths
Both young people and adults can experience alcohol poisoning. The condition is usually linked to drinking too many alcohol beverages. But in some cases, people with this condition might have accidentally or intentionally drank household products containing alcohol, such as mouthwash or vanilla extract. People who binge drink have a higher risk of experiencing alcohol poisoning. Binge drinking is defined as the consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks (for men) or four or more drinks (for women) within two hours.
Alcohol Poisoning Complications
The time it takes alcohol to both have an impact and subsequently leave your system can depend on many factors, such as your weight and how many drinks you’ve had within a given time. Alcohol is a psychoactive substance with dependence-producing properties that has been widely used in many cultures for centuries. The harmful use of alcohol causes a high burden of disease and has significant social and economic consequences. If you think someone has alcohol poisoning, get them medical help as soon as possible. Mixed drinks may contain more than one serving of alcohol.