When someone drinks a large amount of alcohol in a short period of time, alcohol poisoning can be the potentially deadly result. Beyond simple drunkenness, someone with alcohol poisoning exhibits specific symptoms as the toxic effects of the alcohol impact the brain and body. Acute alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency, and anyone who develops symptoms needs emergency medical care.
Symptoms
After someone drinks a large amount of alcohol, symptoms of alcohol poisoning may appear within minutes or may take a few hours to develop. Signs of alcohol poisoning include confusion, vomiting, slow or irregular breathing, blue-tinged skin, seizures, low body temperature and a loss of consciousness. Some victims of alcohol poisoning may exhibit only a few symptoms, while others may have many of them.
Treatment
If someone has signs of alcohol poisoning, he should be placed lying on his side with the head tilted up and a hand beneath the cheek for support to keep his airway open. Someone who is still conscious and responsive can be monitored until the alcohol is cleared from the system. If at any time the person becomes unconscious or unresponsive or exhibits slowed breathing, bluish skin, uncontrolled vomiting or seizures, he should be taken to a hospital immediately.
Prevention
University of California-Davis recommends that people who choose to drink should limit themselves to one drink per hour to allow the body to metabolize the alcohol sufficiently. A single drink consists of one 12 oz. can or bottle of beer, one 4 oz. glass of wine or a single ounce of hard liquor. Binge drinking raises the risk of alcohol poisoning and should be avoided.
Complications
A person with alcohol poisoning may not be able to gag properly and may choke on her own vomit if she throws up. She may also develop dehydration as a result of the alcohol poisoning. She may stop breathing as the alcohol impairs the brain's ability to control respiratory function. In severe cases, an overdose of alcohol can cause irreversible brain damage or death.
Considerations
Because the levels of alcohol in the blood can continue to rise even after the person has stopped drinking, alcohol poisoning may develop even after he thinks he is safe. Individuals who develop alcohol poisoning due to binge drinking may also exhibit behaviors that put them at risk for alcoholism.
Myths
According to the University of Texas at Austin, common myths about drinking include the idea that someone can walk off the alcohol, take a cold shower or drink coffee to sober up. In fact, only the passage of time can get rid of alcohol in the body as the liver slowly metabolizes the ingested alcohol.
