Author: Gary Jackson

Alcohol’s Effects on the Body National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism NIAAA

There are things you can do to lower the risk of alcohol-related deaths. You can quit or cut back on how many alcoholic beverages you drink. According to the American Dietary Guidelines, moderate alcohol intake includes two drinks or less in a day for men or one drink or less in a day for women.

Alcohol Poisoning and Overdose: Signs and Symptoms of Alcohol Overdose

When he’s not writing, he’s probably listening to music. Alcohol poisoning also can occur when adults or children accidentally or intentionally drink household products that contain alcohol. The answer to this question varies from person to person. The first two to three drinks typically lead to a BAC of 0.01–0.07%.

Critical Signs and Symptoms of an Alcohol Overdose

What is considered life threatening varies on the body’s tolerance level, reaction to alcohol, and amount of alcohol consumed, among other factors. A person can consume a fatal dose of alcohol before passing out. 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.

Lifestyle Quizzes

  1. Additionally, some drinks, such as mixed drinks, can have more than one serving of alcohol in them.
  2. This typically occurs after females consume four drinks or more and males consume five drinks or more during a 2-hour period.
  3. For example, some craft beers may have four times the amount of alcohol that’s in a regular beer.
  4. So, while it might only take four drinks for you to be legally intoxicated, it’d take quite a bit more to kill you.
  5. When BAC reaches high levels, blackouts (gaps in memory), loss of consciousness (passing out), and death can occur.

Everybody has different limits, and what’s fatal to one person might not be for another. However, there are ways to prevent yourself from getting into a position where your life might be at risk. Even when it’s not fatal, alcohol can cause some unpleasant — and sometimes dangerous — symptoms. As a general rule, one standard drink will increase your BAC by 0.02 percent. So, while it might only take four drinks for you to be legally intoxicated, it’d take quite a bit more to kill you. The effects of alcohol are felt a little differently from person to person as a number of factors influence the amount of alcohol each person can withstand.

Symptoms

An alcohol binge can occur over hours or last up to several days. Alcohol use and taking opioids or sedative hypnotics, such as sleep and anti-anxiety medications, can increase your risk of an overdose. Examples of these medications include sleep aids, such as zolpidem and eszopiclone, and benzodiazepines, such as diazepam and alprazolam. Even drinking alcohol while taking over-the-counter antihistamines can be dangerous.

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. Alcohol poisoning is a serious — and sometimes deadly — result of drinking large amounts of alcohol in a short period of time. Drinking too much too quickly can affect breathing, heart rate, body temperature and gag reflex.

Severely high levels may result in an alcohol overdose and be life threatening. You can drink a fatal amount of alcohol before you pass out. Even if you’re unconscious, your stomach and intestines continue to release alcohol into your bloodstream, increasing the level of alcohol in your body. For a man, binge drinking is when you have five or more drinks in less than 2 hours. For a woman, it’s four or more drinks in the same time frame. Teens and college-age adults are most likely to engage in binge drinking.

Who May Be at Risk?

It can lead to complications such as choking, brain damage, and even death. Prompt medical treatment can help prevent these complications from occurring. Higher percentages of alcohol in the blood may be fatal for some people.

The less alcohol you drink, the lower your risk for these health effects, including several types of cancer. Driving under the influence of alcohol is dangerous because it affects your ability to reason, think clearly, judge, or follow traffic laws. It puts your life and the safety of those around you at risk, too. On average, drunk driving kills around 28 people per day in the U.S. If you drink too often, misuse alcohol like binge drink, or drink to the point of blacking out, it can cause many physical and mental health issues in the long term. It can also lead to alcohol use disorder, a form of addiction.

Alcohol overdose can lead to permanent brain damage or death. Over half of alcohol-related deaths are because of health effects from drinking too much over time. It can lead to things like cancer, liver disease, and heart disease. But drinking a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time can also be deadly.

If you think someone has alcohol poisoning, never hesitate to seek emergency medical care. It’s important to remember that a person with alcohol poisoning may not have all the signs and symptoms. Signs of an overdose include confusion, unconsciousness, vomiting, and more. A person should seek emergency medical care to treat an alcohol overdose. Although young people are most likely to engage in binge drinking, deaths from alcohol poisoning usually involve men between the ages of 35 and 64, according to the CDC.