Alcoholis a depressant, that is, a substance that slows down all processes in the body. Small doses of alcohol provide a feeling of relaxation and self-confidence. In large doses, it slows down the reaction and negatively affects, for example, the eye and coordination. Driving while sober is extremely dangerous. A severely intoxicated person experiences nausea, dizziness, and may lose consciousness, and then, on top of everything else, may choke on their own vomit.
Blood alcohol level depends on a number of factors.
- If you eat fatty foods, intoxication will not be as fast.
- The high content of animal and vegetable fats slows down the absorption of alcohol and the digestion of food itself.
- The fuller the stomach, the longer it will take for alcohol to reach the circulatory system.
- The thicker your body fat, the slower alcohol is digested and absorbed into the bloodstream.
- Body weight: The heavier you are, the less effect alcohol has on you.
- Your reaction to drinking 80 mg of alcohol may be completely different from someone else's. Generally, young people and women are more sensitive to alcohol.
The ability to consume alcohol and its effects on different people varies; however, it is estimated that a safe dose (from a health point of view) is around 5 liters of medium strength BEER or 10 large glasses of wine per week. for men and 2/3 of this dose for women, provided, of course, that this amount is lost evenly over the course of a week, and not in 1-2 times. If you can, try not to drink on an empty stomach.
Alcoholism: what is it?
Alcoholism– regular and compulsive consumption of large quantities of alcohol over a long period. It is the most serious form of drug addiction in modern times, affecting between 1 and 5% of the population in most countries. An alcoholic drinks compulsively in response to a psychological or physical dependence on alcohol.
Anyone can become an alcoholic. However, studies have shown that for children of alcoholics, the risk of becoming dependent on alcohol is 4 to 6 times higher than for children of non-alcoholics.
The study of alcohol consumption among young people in our country is largely based on the experience of similar studies abroad, which at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries were widely carried outin Western Europe and North America and were carried out in various directions:
- The prevalence and patterns of alcohol consumption among students were studied.
- The effect of alcohol on the body of children and adolescents has been studied.
- The relationship between academic performance and alcohol consumption was determined.
- Anti-alcohol education programs have been developed and tested.
An important place among the studies of this period was occupied by works illustrating the prevalence and nature of drinking customs, when children were given alcoholic beverages for:
- "health promotion"
- "appetite"
- "improved growth"
- "to relieve teething"
- "warming up"
- "satisfy hunger"
- "calm"
Six stages of alcoholism
Occasional drunkenness can lead to alcoholism: because the drinker begins to turn to alcohol to relieve stress, or because it is so strong that the early stages of addiction go unnoticed.
Early alcoholism is marked by the appearance of memory lapses. Alcoholism among the younger generation is considered by most researchers to be a significant indicator of dysfunction in the microsocial environment. This determines the constant interest in studying the problem of the prevalence and nature of early alcoholism.
Boys drink the main types of alcoholic beverages more often than girls, and as their strength increases, this difference becomes significant. Among urban schoolchildren, it is common to consume mainly weak alcoholic drinks - beer, wine, while students of rural schools are more familiar with the tastes of strong alcoholic drinks. In the 1920s and 1920s, a fairly widespread use of moonshine among schoolchildren could be seen: 1. 0 to 32. 0% among boys and 0. 9 to 12% among girls. The frequency of vodka consumption increases with age.
Almost all socio-hygienic and clinical-social studies of alcoholism among young people used the survey method in various modifications - from correspondence questionnaires to telephone interviews and clinical interviews.
Basic alcoholism– the drinker cannot stop before reaching the stage of poisoning. He encourages himself with self-justifications and pompous promises, but all his promises and intentions remain unfulfilled. He begins to avoid family and friends and neglects food, past interests, work and money. Physical deterioration of health occurs. Resistance to alcohol decreases.
Chronic alcoholism is characterized by subsequent moral decline, irrational thoughts, vague fears, fantasies and psychopathic behavior. The physical damage accumulates. The drinker no longer has an alibi and can no longer take steps to escape the current situation. A person can reach this stage in 5 to 25 years.
Treatment is usually carried out in special programs for alcoholics. Psychologically, the desire for help is revived in the alcoholic and he begins to think more rationally. Ideally, it also develops hope, moral responsibility, outside interests, self-esteem and the satisfaction of abstaining from alcohol.
The final stage of alcoholism occurs if the alcoholic refuses treatment or collapses again after treatment. Irreversible mental and physical damage usually ends in death.
If you write all this down briefly, this is what you get:
- Domestic drunkenness
- Early alcoholism
- Basic alcoholism
- Chronic alcoholism
- Heal
- The final stage of alcoholism
What determines a person's level of intoxication?
The effect of alcohol on behavior depends on how much alcohol reaches the brain through the blood. This "blood alcohol level" is determined by several other factors besides the amount you drink.
The size of the liver determines the rate of oxidation and elimination of alcohol.
The weight of the person itself determines the amount of blood in the body, since the volume of blood is proportional to it. The bigger the person, the more the blood is diluted by the alcohol consumed and the more is needed to have the same effect.
The speed and manner of consuming alcohol are also important. The slower a person drinks a certain amount of alcohol, the weaker its effects.
Drinking alcohol on an empty stomach has a stronger and faster effect than drinking it during or after a meal. Food acts as a buffer during absorption.
The process of intoxication.
When drinking alcohol, the transmission of impulses in the nervous system slows down. The highest levels of the brain are the first affected: inhibitions, excitement and anxiety disappear to give way to a feeling of contentment and euphoria. As lower levels of the brain are affected, coordination, vision and speech deteriorate. The small blood vessels in the skin dilate. Heat is radiated and the person becomes hot. This means that blood has moved away from the body's internal organs, where blood vessels have already narrowed due to the effects of alcohol on the nervous system. Therefore, the temperature of the internal organs decreases at the same time. A possible increase in sexual desire is associated with the removal of ordinary prohibitions. As blood alcohol levels rise, physical sexual performance becomes increasingly impaired. Eventually, the toxic effects of alcohol cause nausea and possibly vomiting.
Hangover
A hangover is bad. . . And now in more detail:
Hangoveris physical discomfort after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. Symptoms may include headache, stomach upset, thirst, dizziness and irritability. A hangover results from three processes. First, the stomach lining is irritated by excess alcohol and the functioning of the stomach is impaired. Second, cellular dehydration occurs if the amount of alcohol consumed exceeds the capacity of the liver, leading to prolonged persistence of alcohol in the blood. Thirdly, the level of alcohol has a "shock" effect on the nervous system, from which it needs time to recover.
The best way to avoid a hangover is to not drink too much (or better yet, not to drink at all). But the risk of a hangover is reduced if alcohol is mixed with a snack (Havka): the consumption and absorption of alcohol continues over a longer period and the food serves as a barrier. Non-alcoholic drinks taken at the same time or after will dilute the alcohol. Harmful effects are also generally reduced if alcohol is consumed in a relaxed environment and smoking is kept to a minimum.
The effect of alcohol on the body
Blood.Alcohol inhibits the production of platelets as well as white and red blood cells. Result: anemia, infections, bleeding
Brain. Alcohol slows down blood circulation in the vessels of the brain, leading to a constant lack of oxygen to its cells, leading to weakening of memory and slow mental degradation (or simply boredom). Early sclerotic changes develop in the vessels and the risk of cerebral hemorrhage increases. Alcohol destroys the connections between nerve cells in the brain, developing in them the craving for alcohol and alcohol dependence. Destruction of brain cells and degeneration of the nervous system sometimes leads to pneumonia, heart and kidney failure, or organic psychosis. Delirium tremens is a condition accompanied by extreme agitation, mental insanity, agitation, fever, tremors, rapid and irregular pulse and hallucinations, which often occurs duringconsumption of large quantities of alcohol after several days of abstinence.
Heart.Alcohol abuse leads to increased blood cholesterol levels, persistent hypertension and myocardial dystrophy. Cardiovascular failure puts the patient on the verge of the grave. Alcoholic myopathy: muscular degeneration resulting from alcoholism. The reasons for this are lack of muscle use, poor diet and alcohol damage to the nervous system. Alcoholic cardiomyopathy affects the heart muscle.
Intestines.The constant effect of alcohol on the wall of the small intestine leads to a change in the structure of cells, which lose the ability to fully absorb nutrients and mineral components, which results in the body's depletion ofthe alcoholic.
Diseases associated with poor diet and vitamin deficiency, such as scurvy, pellagra and beriberi, caused by neglecting food in favor of drink. Persistent inflammation of the stomach and later intestines with an increased risk of ulcers.
Liver.Considering that 95% of all alcohol entering the body is neutralized in the liver, it is clear that it is this organ that suffers the most from alcohol: an inflammatory process occurs (hepatitis), then scarring(cirrhosis). The liver ceases to perform its function of disinfection of toxic metabolic products, production of blood proteins and other important functions, which leads to the inevitable death of the patient. Cirrhosis is an insidious disease: it slowly sets in on a person, then strikes and immediately leads to death. Ten percent of chronic alcoholics have liver cirrhosis, and 75% of people with cirrhosis are or have been alcoholics. Until cirrhosis develops sufficiently, there are almost no symptoms, then the alcoholic begins to complain of a general deterioration in health, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and digestive problems. The cause of the disease is the toxic effect of alcohol.
Pancreas.Alcoholic patients are 10 times more likely to develop diabetes than non-drinkers: alcohol destroys the pancreas, the organ that produces insulin, and profoundly disrupts metabolism.
Leather.A drinker almost always appears older than his age: his skin very quickly loses its elasticity and ages prematurely.
Stomach. Alcohol suppresses the production of mucin, which performs a protective function in relation to the gastric mucosa, which leads to the appearance of peptic ulcers.
A characteristic manifestation of alcohol poisoning is repeated vomiting. Even a single consumption of small doses of alcoholic beverages is accompanied by pronounced manifestations of intoxication in adolescents, especially in the nervous system. The most serious poisonings are observed in people with complicated medical histories, against the background of organic brain insufficiency or concomitant somatic pathology.
It is much less clear to describe the nature of the influence of alcohol on the psyche of a teenager. In general, the clinical picture of severe intoxication of a teenager in most cases looks like this: short-term excitement is then replaced by general depression, stupor, increasing drowsiness, lethargy, slow speechand incoherent and a loss of orientation.
When they drink alcohol for the first time, 53% of adolescents feel disgust. Over time, with an increase in the "experience" of alcohol consumption, the objective picture, however, changes radically. More than 90% of adolescents surveyed with two or more years of "experience" of drinking alcohol believed that intoxication was accompanied by a feeling of increased energy, a feeling of contentment, comfort andfrom an increase in mood, i. e. those attributes of a mental state that ordinary consciousness often attributes to action begin to appear in their statements.
Diseases or simply PSYCHOSIS
Delirium tremens usually occurs against the background of a hangover, with a sudden cessation of alcohol consumption or during a period of abstinence, with the addition of somatic diseases, injuries (especially fractures). The first symptoms of psychosis are worsening of nighttime sleep, the appearance of vegetative symptoms and tremors, as well as the patient's general liveliness, noted in his movements, speech, facial expressions and especially his mood. Over a short period of time, various shades of mood can be noticed, while during a hangover the mood is monotonous, characterized by depression and anxiety. Unusual mood changes and general liveliness intensify in the evening and night, while during the day these disturbances decrease sharply and may even disappear completely, allowing the patient to perform professional duties. As the symptoms of psychosis increase, complete insomnia appears, against which visual illusions arise first, and then various hallucinations and delusions.
Delirium tremens is characterized by a predominance of true visual hallucinations. They are characterized by a multiplicity of images and mobility. These are most often insects (bugs, cockroaches, beetles, flies) and small animals (cats, rats, mice). Less often, patients see large animals and people, in some cases having a fantastic appearance. Visions of snakes, devils as well as deceased loved ones, the so-called wandering dead, are very typical. In some cases, visual illusions and hallucinations are single, in others they are multiple and scene-like, i. e. the patient sees complex images. There are often auditory, tactile, olfactory hallucinations, sensations of disruption of the body's position in space. Patients' moods are extremely changeable. In a short time, one can note fear, complacency, perplexity, surprise and despair. Patients usually move continuously, their facial expressions are expressive. Motor reactions correspond to the dominant hallucinations and affect of the moment - with fear and frightening visions, the patient hides, defends himself, is excited; during periods of complacency - passive.
Patients are characterized by extreme distraction in the face of external events; everything around them attracts their attention. Delirium in alcoholic delirium is fragmentary and reflects hallucinatory disorders. In terms of content, it is most often a persecutory delusion. Patients are usually falsely oriented in place (in the hospital they say they are at home, in a restaurant, at work), but are oriented in their own personality. Alcoholic delirium is characterized by the periodic temporary disappearance of a significant part of mental disorders, called lucid - light intervals, as well as a naturally pronounced increase in symptoms of psychosis in the evening and night.
Delirium tremens is constantly accompanied by various somatic disorders - tremor, sudden sweating, hyperemia of the skin, especially the face. The temperature is most often low. The pulse is increased. Protein often appears in urine; in the blood - increased bilirubin content, shift of the leukocyte formula to the left, acceleration of the ROE. The course of the disease is generally short-lived. Even without treatment, symptoms of psychosis disappear within 3 to 5 days. More rarely, the illness lasts 1 to 1. 5 weeks. Recovery is more often observed in the form of a seizure - after deep sleep. Sometimes recovery is gradual, getting worse in the evening and night and improving during the day. Signs indicating an unfavorable prognosis of delirium tremens are the development of symptoms of professional delirium and delirium, high fever and states of collapse.
Alcoholic hallucination develops either during a hangover or at the height of excessive alcohol consumption. The main disorder consists of abundant auditory hallucinations associated with persecutory delusions. Verbal auditory hallucinations predominate and the patient usually hears words "spoken" by a large number of people - a "choir of voices", as patients often define it. Most often, the "voices" speak among themselves about the patient, less often they address the patient himself. The content of verbal hallucinations consists of threats, accusations about the patient's past actions, cynical insults and insults. Hallucinations are often mocking and teasing in nature. The voices intensify to a scream or fade to a whisper. Delusions in content are closely related to auditory hallucinations - the so-called. hallucinatory delirium. They are fragmentary and unsystematic. The predominant affect is intense anxiety and fear. At the beginning of psychosis, patients are motorically excited, but soon some delay appears or very orderly behavior is observed, masking the psychosis. The latter creates a false and dangerous idea of improvement. Typically, symptoms of psychosis intensify in the evening and night. Somatic disorders, usual in hangover syndrome, are constant. The duration of alcoholic hallucinosis is from 2-3 days to several weeks; in rare cases, the illness lasts up to several months.
Alcoholic depression always appears against the background of a hangover syndrome. Characterized by depressed and anxious mood, self-deprecating ideas, tears, as well as individual ideas of relationship and persecution. Duration – from a few days to 1 to 2 weeks. It is in a state of alcoholic depression that alcoholics most often commit suicide.
Alcoholic epilepsy is symptomatic and associated with toxicosis. Convulsions most often occur at the height of intoxication during a hangover or during alcoholic delirium. Typically, epileptiform seizures are observed. Minor seizures, twilight stupors, and auras do not occur in alcoholic epilepsy. With the cessation of alcohol abuse, the seizures disappear.
Alcoholic paranoia is an alcoholic psychosis whose main symptom is delusion. Occurs in a state of hangover syndrome and at the peak of excessive alcohol consumption. The content of delusions is limited to persecution or jealousy (ideas of adultery). In the first case, patients believe that there is a group of people who want to rob or kill them. They see confirmation of their thoughts in the gestures, actions and words of others. Characterized by confusion, intense anxiety, often giving way to fear. Patients' actions are impulsive: they jump out of vehicles while moving, suddenly run away, turn to government authorities for help, and sometimes attack imaginary enemies. In some cases, delirium is accompanied by mild verbal delusions and hallucinations, as well as individual delusional symptoms that occur in the evening and night. The course of this form of paranoia is usually short-lived - from several days to several weeks. Sometimes the psychosis lasts for months.
Alcoholic encephalopathies– alcoholic psychoses, developing in connection with metabolic disorders and, first of all, vitamins B and PP. Alcoholic encephalopathy results from many years of alcoholism, accompanied by chronic gastritis or enteritis and, as a result, impaired absorption in the intestine. Alcoholic encephalopathies mainly develop in individuals who drink a lot but eat very little. Most often, alcoholic encephalopathies occur in spring and early summer. Autonomic symptoms usually include heart rhythm disturbances, central fever, breathing problems, and sphincter weakness. You can constantly observe an increase in muscle tone. The general physical condition of patients is characterized by progressive weight loss which can lead to severe cachexia. The skin is pale or dark brown in color.
Chronic forms of alcoholic encephalopathy include Korsakoff psychosis and alcoholic pseudoparalysis. In some cases, they develop gradually, over several months, then the nature of the appearance corresponds to Gaye-Vorik encephalopathy, in others - acutely, after alcoholic psychoses, usually after delirium tremens.
Treatment of alcoholic psychoses. Patients with alcoholic psychosis should be urgently admitted to a special hospital. Some patients with hangover syndrome are also subject to hospitalization in cases where mental disturbances, including mood changes, are intense. Treatment of alcoholic psychosis in the hospital should be comprehensive - use of multivitamins (B1, C, PP), cardiac and hypnotics with hypoglycemic and comatose doses of insulin or psychotronic drugs. The only effective treatment for alcoholic encephalonitis, especially acute, is treatment with large doses of vitamins: B1 - up to 600 mg, C - up to 1000 mg, PP - up to 300-400 mg perday for 2 to 4 weeks.
Alcohol poisoning.
People who abuse alcohol sometimes fall into a stupor that can lead to a coma. In extremely severe cases, breathing may stop.
However, do not assume that someone who appears drunk has necessarily consumed alcohol. Similar symptoms are observed in other pathologies (head injuries, strokes and diabetes, as well as overdose of certain medications).
FIRST AID.
If the victim is unconscious but still breathing, remove anything that interferes with breathing (pieces of snacks, breakfast) from the mouth and pharynx with your finger, do not try to induce vomiting. Place the victim in the resuscitation position, free the neck and waist from tight clothing and ensure that the airway remains clear.
If the victim does not regain consciousness, call an ambulance.
Conclusion
Alcoholism is a serious illness that in some cases develops over several years. It is therefore better not to drink a lot and often! And if you drink, drink BEER! ! ! : )