Alcohol intoxication | |
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Other names | Inebriation, drunkenness, ethanol intoxication, internal damage by alcohol [1] [2] |
The Drunkenness of Noah by Michelangelo, 1509 | |
Specialty | Toxicology, psychiatry |
Symptoms | Mild: Mild sedation, decreased coordination [3] Moderate: Slurred speech, trouble walking, vomiting [3] Severe: Decreased effort to breathe, coma [3] |
Complications | Seizures, aspiration pneumonia, injuries, low blood sugar [3] [4] |
Usual onset | Over minutes to hours [5] |
Duration | Several hours [5] |
Causes | Alcohol (ethanol) [6] |
Risk factors | Social environment, impulsivity, alcoholism [5] [7] |
Diagnostic method | Typically based on history of events and physical examination [6] |
Differential diagnosis | Hepatic encephalopathy, Wernicke encephalopathy, methanol toxicity, meningitis, traumatic brain injury [6] |
Treatment | Supportive care [6] |
Frequency | Very common |
Deaths | c. 2,200 per year (U.S.) [8] |
Alcohol intoxication, commonly described in higher doses as drunkenness or inebriation, [9] and known in overdose as alcohol poisoning, [1] is the behavior and physical effects caused by recent consumption of alcohol. [6] [10] The technical term intoxication in common speech may suggest that a large amount of alcohol has been consumed, leading to accompanying physical symptoms and deleterious health effects. Mild intoxication is mostly referred to by slang terms such as tipsy or buzzed. In addition to the toxicity of ethanol, the main psychoactive component of alcoholic beverages, other physiological symptoms may arise from the activity of acetaldehyde, a metabolite of alcohol. [11] These effects may not arise until hours after ingestion and may contribute to a condition colloquially known as a hangover.
Symptoms of intoxication at lower doses may include mild sedation and poor coordination. [3] At higher doses, there may be slurred speech, trouble walking, and vomiting. [3] Extreme doses may result in a respiratory depression, coma, or death. [3] Complications may include seizures, aspiration pneumonia, low blood sugar, and injuries or self-harm such as suicide. [3] [4] Alcohol intoxication can lead to alcohol-related crime with perpetrators more likely to be intoxicated than victims. [12]
Alcohol intoxication typically begins after two or more alcoholic drinks. [5] Alcohol has the potential for abuse. Risk factors include a social situation where heavy drinking is common and a person having an impulsive personality. [5] Diagnosis is usually based on the history of events and physical examination. [6] Verification of events by witnesses may be useful. [6] Legally, alcohol intoxication is often defined as a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of greater than 5.4–17.4 mmol/L (25–80 mg/dL or 0.025–0.080%). [13] [14] This can be measured by blood or breath testing. [5] Alcohol is broken down in the human body at a rate of about 3.3 mmol/L (15 mg/dL) per hour, [6] depending on an individual's metabolic rate (metabolism). [15] The DSM-5 defines alcohol intoxication as at least one of the following symptoms that developed during or close after alcohol ingestion: slurred speech, incoordination, unsteady walking/movement, nystagmus (uncontrolled eye movement), attention or memory impairment, or near unconsciousness or coma. [16]
Management of alcohol intoxication involves supportive care. [6] Typically this includes putting the person in the recovery position, keeping the person warm, and making sure breathing is sufficient. [4] Gastric lavage and activated charcoal have not been found to be useful. [6] Repeated assessments may be required to rule out other potential causes of a person's symptoms. [6]
Acute intoxication has been documented throughout history, and alcohol remains one of the world's most widespread recreational drugs. [17] [18] Some religions, such as Islam, consider alcohol intoxication to be a sin. [5] [19]
Alcohol intoxication leads to negative health effects due to the recent drinking of large amount of ethanol (alcohol). [6] [20] When severe it may become a medical emergency. Some effects of alcohol intoxication, such as euphoria and lowered social inhibition, are central to alcohol's desirability. [21]
As drinking increases, people become sleepy or fall into a stupor. At very high blood alcohol concentrations, for example above 0.3%, the respiratory system becomes depressed and the person may stop breathing. [22] Comatose patients may aspirate their vomit (resulting in vomitus in the lungs, which may cause "drowning" and later pneumonia if survived). CNS depression and impaired motor coordination along with poor judgment increase the likelihood of accidental injury occurring. It is estimated that about one-third of alcohol-related deaths are due to accidents and another 14% are from intentional injury. [23]
In addition to respiratory failure and accidents caused by its effects on the central nervous system, alcohol causes significant metabolic derangements. 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. Patients may also present with hypothermia.
Alcohol is metabolized by a normal liver at the rate of about 8 grams of pure ethanol per hour. 8 grams or 10 mL (0.34 US fl oz) is one British standard unit. An "abnormal" liver with conditions such as hepatitis, cirrhosis, gall bladder disease, and cancer is likely to result in a slower rate of metabolism. [24]
Alcohol intoxication is described as a mental and behavioural disorder by the International Classification of Diseases. (ICD-10). [25] Definitive diagnosis relies on a blood test for alcohol, usually performed as part of a toxicology screen. Law enforcement officers in the United States and other countries often use breathalyzer units and field sobriety tests as more convenient and rapid alternatives to blood tests. [26] There are also various models of breathalyzer units that are available for consumer use. Because these may have varying reliability and may produce different results than the tests used for law-enforcement purposes, the results from such devices should be conservatively interpreted.
Many informal intoxication tests exist, which, in general, are unreliable and not recommended as deterrents to excessive intoxication or as indicators of the safety of activities such as motor vehicle driving, heavy equipment operation, machine tool use, etc.
For determining whether someone is intoxicated by alcohol by some means other than a blood-alcohol test, it is necessary to rule out other conditions such as hypoglycemia, stroke, usage of other intoxicants, mental health issues, and so on. It is best if their behavior has been observed while the subject is sober to establish a baseline. Several well-known criteria can be used to establish a probable diagnosis. For a physician in the acute-treatment setting, acute alcohol intoxication can mimic other acute neurological disorders or is frequently combined with other recreational drugs that complicate diagnosis and treatment.
Acute alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency due to the risk of death from respiratory depression or aspiration of vomit if vomiting occurs while the person is unresponsive. Emergency treatment strives to stabilize and maintain an open airway and sufficient breathing while waiting for the alcohol to metabolize. This can be done by removal of any vomit or, if the person is unconscious or has impaired gag reflex, intubation of the trachea. [27]
Other measures may include
Additional medication may be indicated for treatment of nausea, tremor, and anxiety.
Alcohol intoxication was found to be prevalent in clinical populations within the United States involving people treated for [31] trauma [32] and in the age group of people aged within their 18th–24th years (in a study of a group for the years 1999–2004). [33] In the United States during the years 2010–2012, acute intoxication was found to be the direct cause of an average of 2,221 deaths, in the sample group of those aged within their 15th year or older. [8] The same mortality route is thought to cause indirectly more than 30,000 deaths per year. [5]
A normal liver detoxifies the blood of alcohol over a period of time that depends on the initial level and the patient's overall physical condition. An abnormal liver will take longer but still succeeds, provided the alcohol does not cause liver failure. [34]
People having drunk heavily for several days or weeks may have withdrawal symptoms after the acute intoxication has subsided. [35]
A person consuming a dangerous amount of alcohol persistently can develop memory blackouts and idiosyncratic intoxication or pathological drunkenness symptoms. [36] Long-term persistent consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol can cause liver damage and have other deleterious health effects.
Alcohol intoxication is a risk factor in some cases of catastrophic injury, in particular for unsupervised recreational activity. A study in the province of Ontario based on epidemiological data from 1986, 1989, 1992, and 1995 states that 79.2% of the 2,154 catastrophic injuries recorded for the study were preventable, of which 346 (17%) involved alcohol consumption. [37] The activities most commonly associated with alcohol-related catastrophic injury were snowmobiling (124), fishing (41), diving (40), boating (31) and canoeing (7), swimming (31), riding an all-terrain vehicle (24), and cycling (23). [37] These events are often associated with unsupervised young males, often inexperienced in the activity, and may result in drowning. [37] Alcohol use is also associated with unsafe sex.
Laws on drunkenness vary. In the United States, it is a criminal offense for a person to be drunk while driving a motorized vehicle, except in Wisconsin, where it is only a fine for the first offense. [38] It is also a criminal offense to fly an aircraft or (in some American states) to assemble or operate an amusement park ride while drunk. [39] Similar laws also exist in the United Kingdom and most other countries.
In some jurisdictions, it is also an offense to serve alcohol to an already-intoxicated person, [40] and, often, alcohol can only be sold by persons qualified to serve responsibly through alcohol server training.
The blood alcohol content (BAC) for legal operation of a vehicle is typically measured as a percentage of a unit volume of blood. This percentage ranges from 0.00% in Romania and the United Arab Emirates; to 0.05% in Australia, South Africa, Germany, Scotland, and New Zealand (0.00% for underage individuals); to 0.08% in England and Wales, the United States and Canada. [41]
The United States Federal Aviation Administration prohibits crew members from performing their duties within eight hours of consuming an alcoholic beverage, while under the influence of alcohol, or with a BAC greater than 0.04%. [42] [43]
In the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, public intoxication is a crime (also known as "being drunk and disorderly" or "being drunk and incapable"). [44]
In some countries, there are special facilities, sometimes known as "drunk tanks", for the temporary detention of persons found to be drunk.
Some religious groups permit the consumption of alcohol; some permit consumption but prohibit intoxication; others prohibit any amount of alcohol consumption altogether. Many denominations of Christianity, such as Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Lutheranism, use wine as a part of the Eucharist and permit its consumption, but consider it sinful to become intoxicated. [45]
Romans 13:13–14, [46] 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, Galatians 5:19–21 [47] and Ephesians 5:18 [48] are among a number of other Bible passages that speak against intoxication.
While some Protestant Christian denominations prohibit the consumption of alcohol [49] based upon biblical passages that condemn drunkenness, [50] but others allow a moderate rate of consumption. [51]
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, alcohol consumption is forbidden, [52] and teetotalism has become a distinguishing feature of its members. Jehovah's Witnesses allow moderate alcohol consumption among its members.
In the Quran, [53] [54] [55] there is a prohibition on the consumption of grape-based alcoholic beverages, and intoxication is considered an abomination in the hadith of Muhammad. The schools of thought of Islamic jurisprudence have interpreted this as a strict prohibition of the consumption of all types of alcohol and declared it to be haram (lit. 'forbidden [in Islam]'), although other uses may be permitted. [56]
In Buddhism, in general, the consumption of intoxicants is discouraged for both monastics and lay followers. Many Buddhists observe a basic code of ethics known as the five precepts, of which the fifth precept is an undertaking to refrain from the consumption of intoxicating substances [57] (except for medical reasons). [58] In the bodhisattva vows of the Brahmajala Sutra , observed by Mahayana Buddhist communities, distribution of intoxicants is likewise discouraged, as well as consumption. [59]
In the Gaudiya Vaishnavism branch of Hinduism, one of the four regulative principles forbids the taking of intoxicants, including alcohol.
In the Bible, the Book of Proverbs contains several chapters related to the negative effects of drunkenness and warns to stay away from intoxicating beverages. The Book of Genesis refers to the use of wine by Lot's daughters to rape him. The story of Samson in the Book of Judges tells of a monk from the Israelite tribe of Dan who, as a Nazirite, is prohibited from cutting his hair and drinking wine. [50] Proverbs 31:4 warns against kings and other rulers drinking wine and similar alcoholic beverages, Proverbs 31:6–7 promotes giving such beverages to the perishing and wine to those whose lives are bitter as a coping mechanism against the likes of poverty and other troubles. [60]
In Judaism, in accordance with the biblical stance against drinking, [50] drinking wine is restricted for priests. [61] The biblical command to sanctify the Sabbath and other holidays has been interpreted as having three ceremonial meals with wine or grape juice, known as Kiddush . [62] [63] A number of Jewish marriage ceremonies end with the bride and groom drinking a shared cup of wine after reciting seven blessings; this occurs after a fasting day in some Ashkenazi traditions. It has been customary and in many cases even mandated to drink moderately so as to stay sober, and only after the prayers are over. [64]
During the Seder on Passover, there is an obligation to drink four ceremonial cups of wine while reciting the Haggadah. It has been assumed as the source of the wine-drinking ritual at communion in some Christian groups. [65] During Purim, there is an obligation to become intoxicated; however, as with many other decrees, this has been avoided in many communities by allowing sleep during the day as a replacement. [66]
During the U.S. Prohibition era in the 1920s, a rabbi from the Reform Judaism movement proposed using grape juice for the ritual instead of wine. Although refuted at first, the practice became widely accepted by orthodox Jews as well. [67]
In the film Animals Are Beautiful People , an entire section was dedicated to showing many different animals including monkeys, elephants, hogs, giraffes, and ostriches, eating over-ripe marula tree fruit causing them to sway and lose their footing in a manner similar to human drunkenness. [68] Birds may become intoxicated with fermented berries and some die colliding with hard objects when flying under the influence. [69] [70]
In elephant warfare, practiced by the Greeks during the Maccabean revolt and by Hannibal during the Punic wars, it has been recorded that the elephants would be given wine before the attack, and only then would they charge forward after being agitated by their driver. [71]
It is a regular practice to give small amounts of beer to race horses in Ireland. Ruminant farm animals have natural fermentation occurring in their stomach, and adding alcoholic beverages in small amounts to their drink will generally do them no harm, and will not cause them to become drunk.
Alcoholic beverages are extremely harmful to dogs, [72] and often for reasons of additives such as xylitol, an artificial sweetener in some mixers. Dogs can absorb ethyl alcohol in dangerous amounts through their skin as well as through drinking the liquid or consuming it in foods. Even fermenting bread dough can be dangerous to dogs. [73] In 1999, one of the royal footmen for Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was demoted from Buckingham Palace due to his "party trick" of spiking the meals and drinks of the Queen's pet corgi dogs with alcohol which in turn would lead the dogs to run around drunk. [74]
Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimated there were 283 million people with alcohol use disorders worldwide as of 2016. The term alcoholism was first coined in 1852, but alcoholism and alcoholic are sometimes considered stigmatizing and to discourage seeking treatment, so diagnostic terms such as alcohol use disorder or alcohol dependence are often used instead in a clinical context.
Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes.
The long-term effects of alcohol have been extensively researched. The health effects of long-term alcohol consumption on health vary depending on the amount consumed. Even light drinking poses health risks, but atypically small amounts of alcohol may have health benefits. Alcoholism causes severe health consequences which outweigh any potential benefits.
Drinking culture is the set of traditions and social behaviours that surround the consumption of alcoholic beverages as a recreational drug and social lubricant. Although alcoholic beverages and social attitudes toward drinking vary around the world, nearly every civilization has independently discovered the processes of brewing beer, fermenting wine, and distilling spirits, among other practices. Many countries have developed their own regional cultures based on unique traditions around the fermentation and consumption of alcohol, which may also be known as a beer culture, wine culture etc. after a particularly prominent type of drink.
Liquor or distilled beverages are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through alcoholic fermentation. Other terms for liquor include spirit, spirituous liquor or hard liquor. While the word liquor ordinarily refers to distilled alcoholic spirits rather than beverages produced by fermentation alone, it can sometimes be used more broadly to refer to any alcoholic beverage.
Purposeful production of alcoholic drinks is common and often reflects cultural and religious peculiarities as much as geographical and sociological conditions.
Alcohol and cancer have a complex relationship. Alcohol causes cancers of the oesophagus, liver, breast, colon, oral cavity, rectum, pharynx, and larynx, and probably causes cancers of the pancreas. Cancer risk can occur even with light to moderate drinking. The more alcohol is consumed, the higher the cancer risk, and no amount can be considered completely safe.
Alcohol has a number of effects on health. Short-term effects of alcohol consumption include intoxication and dehydration. Long-term effects of alcohol include changes in the metabolism of the liver and brain, with increased risk of several types of cancer and alcohol use disorder. Alcohol intoxication affects the brain, causing slurred speech, clumsiness, and delayed reflexes. There is an increased risk of developing an alcohol use disorder for teenagers while their brain is still developing. Adolescents who drink have a higher probability of injury including death.
Alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl functional group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom, usually connected to other carbon or hydrogen atoms. An important class are the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is CnH2n+1OH. Of those, ethanol (C2H5OH) is the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, and in common speech the word alcohol refers specifically to ethanol. Articles related to alcohol include:
Alcoholic beverages appear in the Hebrew Bible, after Noah planted a vineyard and became inebriated. In the New Testament, Jesus miraculously made copious amounts of wine at the wedding at Cana. Wine is the most common alcoholic beverage mentioned in biblical literature, where it is a source of symbolism, and was an important part of daily life in biblical times. Additionally, the inhabitants of ancient Israel drank beer and wines made from fruits other than grapes, and references to these appear in scripture. However, the alcohol content of ancient alcoholic beverages was significantly lower than modern alcoholic beverages. The low alcohol content was due to the limitations of fermentation and the nonexistence of distillation methods in the ancient world. Rabbinic teachers wrote acceptance criteria on consumability of ancient alcoholic beverages after significant dilution with water, and prohibited undiluted wine.
A drug-related blackout is a phenomenon caused by the intake of any substance or medication in which short-term and long-term memory creation is impaired, therefore causing a complete inability to recall the past. Blackouts are frequently described as having effects similar to that of anterograde amnesia, in which the subject cannot recall any events after the event that caused amnesia.
A hangover is the experience of various unpleasant physiological and psychological effects usually following the consumption of alcohol, such as wine, beer, and liquor. Hangovers can last for several hours or for more than 24 hours. Typical symptoms of a hangover may include headache, drowsiness, concentration problems, dry mouth, dizziness, fatigue, gastrointestinal distress, absence of hunger, light sensitivity, depression, sweating, hyper-excitability, irritability, and anxiety.
Surrogate alcohol is a term for any substance containing ethanol, or other alcohols, that is intentionally consumed by humans but is not meant for human consumption. Some definitions of the term also extend to illegally produced alcoholic beverages.
An alcoholic beverage is a beverage containing alcohol (ethanol). Alcoholic drinks are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically their alcohol content is between 3% and 50%.
The short-term effects of alcohol consumption range from a decrease in anxiety and motor skills and euphoria at lower doses to intoxication (drunkenness), to stupor, unconsciousness, anterograde amnesia, and central nervous system depression at higher doses. Cell membranes are highly permeable to alcohol, so once it is in the bloodstream, it can diffuse into nearly every cell in the body.
A caffeinated alcoholic drink is a drink that contains both alcohol and a significant amount of caffeine. Caffeine, a stimulant, masks some of the depressant effects of alcohol. However, in 2010 and 2011, this type of drink faced criticism for posing health risks to its drinkers. In some places there is a ban on caffeinated alcoholic drinks.
Auto-brewery syndrome(ABS) (also known as gut fermentation syndrome, endogenous ethanol fermentation or drunkenness disease) is a condition characterized by the fermentation of ingested carbohydrates in the gastrointestinal tract of the body caused by bacteria or fungi. ABS is a rare medical condition in which intoxicating quantities of ethanol are produced through endogenous fermentation within the digestive system. The organisms responsible for ABS include various yeasts and bacteria, including Saccharomyces cerevisiae, S. boulardii, Candida albicans, C. tropicalis, C. krusei, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Enterococcus faecium. These organisms use lactic acid fermentation or mixed acid fermentation pathways to produce an ethanol end product. The ethanol generated from these pathways is absorbed in the small intestine, causing an increase in blood alcohol concentrations that produce the effects of intoxication without the consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol, sometimes referred to by the chemical name ethanol, is the second most consumed psychoactive drug globally behind caffeine, and alcohol use disorders are the most prevalent of all substance use disorders worldwide. Alcohol is a central nervous system (CNS) depressant, decreasing electrical activity of neurons in the brain. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies alcohol as a toxic, psychoactive, dependence-producing, and carcinogenic substance.
Alcohol intolerance is due to a genetic polymorphism of the aldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme, which is responsible for the metabolism of acetaldehyde. This polymorphism is most often reported in patients of East Asian descent. Alcohol intolerance may also be an associated side effect of certain drugs such as disulfiram, metronidazole, or nilutamide. Skin flushing and nasal congestion are the most common symptoms of intolerance after alcohol ingestion. It may also be characterized as intolerance causing hangover symptoms similar to the "disulfiram-like reaction" of aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency or chronic fatigue syndrome. Severe pain after drinking alcohol may indicate a more serious underlying condition.
This page is a list of terms related to the psychoactive drug alcohol.
Alcohol poisoning presents in two forms, acute and chronic. However, these are most often referred to as alcohol intoxication and alcohol addiction respectively.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)In case of severe intoxication (blood alcohol concentration >1 g/L), it is necessary to prevent and to treat the potentially lethal metabolic effects of alcohol libation (in particular in adolescents) and to accelerate alcohol elimination from blood. It is necessary to support with intravenous fluids, treat hypoglycemia, hypotension, hypothermia and electrolyte imbalance, administer complex B and C vitamins, and support ventilation when necessary. To accelerate the elimination of ethanol from blood (assisting a faster recovery of the patient), two possible strategies can be applied: to perform a gastric lavage within two hours after drinking a considerable amount of alcohol or to administer metadoxine (pyridoxol L-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylate) that may be capable of decreasing ethanol blood levels by accelerating the urinary elimination of ethanol and acetaldehyde. Hypoglycemia is fasting-related and develops more frequently in young people (because of a lower reserve of liver glycogen); it is necessary to administer intravenous 5% glucose solution or, if possible, to invite the patient to eat fructose-rich foods and complex carbohydrates. Other metabolic effects could be electrolyte imbalance such as hypokalemia, hypomagnesaemia, hypocalcemia which must be appropriately and individually treated and replaced.