ARTICLE>> Alcohol and You
by Jason Easter, Health Promotion Officer

Most people enjoy alcohol and most of the time it's not a problem. But drinking too much or at the wrong time can be harmful to your health, especially drinking heavily on a regular basis. However, there are also times when drinking alcohol in limited quantities can be beneficial. We all know that a drink can sometimes help us to unwind or to relax with friends.

Drink affects everyone in different ways and can lead to a variety of problems. It's not just the drinker who is affected. One person's heavy drinking can affect all those people they come into contact with such as family, friends and colleagues.

Some people don't drink at all or occasionally. Other individuals may only drink at weekends or a few times a week. Then there are those who drink heavily every day and those who 'binge' or get drunk on a regular basis. How much do you drink? Most people say that they drink 'a little' or 'a moderate amount'. Yet 1 in 3 men and 1 in 5 women drink more than the recommended daily benchmarks at least once a week.

What are the daily benchmarks?
The daily benchmarks for men and women are a guide to how much you can drink without putting your health at risk.
The daily benchmarks use a measurement of alcohol called units to help people work out whether or not their drinking is risky.

What is a unit?
The amount of alcohol in any drink depends on what you are drinking. A unit is 8 gms or 10 ml (1cl) of pure alcohol. So:

A small glass of wine (9% ABV) = 1 unit
A 25 ml pub measure of spirit (40% ABV) = 1 unit
Half a pint of ordinary strength lager/beer/cider (3.5% ABV) = 1 unit

ABV stands for the percentage of Alcohol By Volume.
Obviously, in a bar you cannot guarantee the strength or volume of the drink. But by and large, barmen are not inclined to excessive generosity! However, drinks you pour yourself are bigger than pub measures, so keep that in mind.

If you really want to know how much alcohol you are drinking - you can work it out!
Look for the abv % number on the bottle or can, multiply it by the number of litres you drink (250 cl = 0.25 litre). Easy!
If you really want to know how much alcohol you're drinking - you can work it out!

An example:

The daily benchmarks:

So what happens when you drink?

Stage I: Absorption
Once alcohol is swallowed, it is not digested like food. Instead, a small amount is absorbed directly by the mucosal lining of the mouth. Once in the stomach, alcohol is absorbed directly into your blood stream through the tissue lining the stomach and small intestine. Food, water and fruit juice help to slow this absorption, while carbonation works to speed absorption.

Stage 2: Transportation
Once alcohol is in your blood stream, it is carried to all the organs of your body. In the majority of healthy people, blood circulates through the body in 90 seconds, thereby allowing alcohol to affect your brain and all other organs in 90 seconds. The affects of alcohol on the body will vary according to the individual; their sex, their body make-up, the amount and type of alcohol consumed, the situation, and the presence of food in the stomach.

Stage 3: Detoxing
Alcohol is a natural poison that must be either excreted or changed by the body into a non-harmful substance. Ten percent of the alcohol is eliminated through sweat, breath, and urine. Your liver must detoxify the remaining alcohol. The liver detoxifies, or breaks down, alcohol at a maximum rate of one half an ounce per hour. However, some people cannot detoxify that much alcohol in an hour. Nothing will speed this rate. When the rate of alcohol consumed exceeds the liver's detoxification rate, the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream continues to increase, further impairing the brain, causing intoxication, coma, or possibly death.

Myths of alcohol
Myth: "The worst thing that can happen is that I'll pass out and have a hangover tomorrow."
The fact is that death can and does occur from drinking too much alcohol. This is known as alcohol poisoning or acute alcohol intoxication and occurs when the level of alcohol in the body acts as a poison, causing death from the drug overdose. Another way that alcohol can cause death is due to alcohol related accidents, such as drunk driving, falls, and suicide.
Myth: "People pass out from drinking all the time. It's nothing to worry about."
The fact is that you pass out due to the body's inability to tolerate the amount of alcohol that you have consumed. Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that works to slow down the heart rate, lower your blood pressure, and slow your breathing rate. Once your brain has been depressed enough by the alcohol, you pass out. The amount of alcohol it takes to make you pass out is dangerously close to the amount of alcohol it takes to kill you!
Myth: "The best thing to do for someone who is drunk is to put them to bed and let them sleep it off."
Although this is partly true, the fact is that a drunk person is helpless and must be cared for. Never leave a drunk (Intoxicated) person alone! Stay with the person, check their breathing, check their skin temperature, and frequently try to wake them.
Myth: "I'm a bit drunk to drive now, so I'll have a sleep and will be OK to drive in the morning".
This may be the case, but metabolism also slows down while you sleep. In the morning, you may still have enough alcohol in your blood to cause an accident.
Myth: "If my friend passed out, I wouldn't call for help. I couldn't live with myself if I got them in trouble".
The fact is that if you don't call for help, your friend may not live to be mad at you. When someone passes out from drinking too much, they are unconscious and have consumed too much alcohol. This person is suffering from alcohol poisoning and needs medical attention.
Common Myths:
Alcohol is medicinal:
Alcohol is a depressant, and while it may make you feel better in the short term, in the long term, it will make you feel worse. However, for men over 40 and women who have been through the menopause, drinking 1 or 2 units a day can be beneficial to your health.
Black coffee cures a hangover or sobers you up:
Only time can remove alcohol from your bloodstream, no amount of black coffee, cold showers or fresh air will sober you up.
If you drink alcohol while eating meat, it will have less effect on you:
There is no scientific evidence to prove this. However, eating a meal whilst drinking alcohol does slow down alcohol absorption in your body.
Once you've slept it off you're fine:
It takes 1 hour for your liver to remove each unit of alcohol from your system. So if you drink heavily in the evening you could still be over the legal drink drive limit the following morning.

Women and Alcohol
Men and women do not respond to alcohol in the same way. Current research indicates that women are not as efficient "drinking machines" as men. There are many factors that influence this difference.
1. Body size is the first factor. Women are, on the average, built smaller than men. Therefore, equal amounts of alcohol cause a higher blood alcohol concentration in women due to the smaller blood volume.
2. Body composition is the second factor. The average female carries more body fat than a male. Body fat contains little water. When consumed, alcohol dilutes in water. Therefore, a female has less body water to dilute alcohol in, causing a higher blood alcohol concentration, even if two equally sized men and women drink the same amount of alcohol.
3. The third factor is a metabolising enzyme that helps rid the body of alcohol called alcohol dehydrogenase. Women have less of this enzyme than men do. Therefore, more of the alcohol that women drink enters the blood stream as pure alcohol, and stays there.
4. Finally, a woman's response to alcohol is increased due to hormonal changes when a woman is about to have her period, or is taking the birth control pill.

For these reasons, women can expect more impairment from alcohol than men consuming an equal dose of alcohol. Preliminary research suggests that women develop problems with alcohol more quickly and severely than men do. Therefore to reduce your risk, it is suggested that women limit their consumption to no more than one drink per hour, no more than one drink per day, and never more than four times per week.

Drinking in pregnancy
When a pregnant women drinks alcohol, the alcohol passes to the baby through the placenta and can affect the baby's development. This happens throughout the pregnancy, not just in the few weeks. Excessive drinking can lead to low weight at birth and can also affect the physical and mental development of the child. Getting drunk is particularly risky. The advice is therefore the same as for women trying to become pregnant - avoid getting drunk and drink no more than 1 or 2 units once or twice a week. The best advice is simply not to drink alcohol at all.

After birth
Alcohol passes to the baby in small amount in breast milk. The milk will smell different to the baby and may affect his or her feeding, sleeping or digestion. Again the best advice is to avoid drinking whilst breastfeeding.
Remember that this is not an issue of equality, but one of health!

Let the truth be told
If you are concerned about your drinking or you have even tried to cut down on your alcohol consumption and have found it difficult, ask yourself these questions:

1. Have you ever felt you ought to cut down on your drinking? YES / NO
2. Have people annoyed you by criticising your drinking?
YES / NO
3. Have you ever felt bad or guilty about your drinking?
YES / NO
4. Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady Your nerves or get rid of a hangover?
YES / NO

If you have answered YES to two or more of the questions then your drinking is causing some problems for you. You may even be dependent on alcohol and should seek specialist help.

So what will you gain from drinking less?

The identification and care for a drunk person
Unfortunately, getting drunk is common in this day and age. Because of this you are likely to come into contact with a person who is intoxicated or experiencing an episode of life-threatening, acute alcohol intoxication (alcohol poisoning). How do you care for this person? How do you tell if the person is acutely intoxicated? What should you do? Below are some of the signs and symptoms of intoxication, alcohol poisoning, and the appropriate actions to take. This list is not all-inclusive.
Identification
As mentioned, alcohol affects each individual differently. The affect of alcohol on a person will vary according to the person's mood, the time of day, amount of food in the stomach, the mixer used, how fast the person drinks, what and why they are drinking.

Signs of intoxication:

CARE

Any person that has altered consciousness, slowed respirations, or cool, pale skin is experiencing acute alcohol intoxication (alcohol poisoning). This is a medical emergency and you MUST get help.

DO NOT. . .

REMEMBER: The only thing that can sober you up is time!