Alcohol and Your Body: Did You Know?
- Alcohol Poisoning
- Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and its effects
- Am I Still Drunk?
- Women and Alcohol
- GHB: Is that cup of beer what it appears to be?
- Some Interesting Tidbits
Alcohol poisoning is serious and can be deadly. Too much alcohol too quickly can overload your system, leading to an alcohol emergency. Heavy drinking affects brain areas that control vital functions like breathing, heart rate, and the reflex that prevents choking. Alcohol slows down the brain and, in large quantities, can shut it down completely and lead to death.
A person who has been drinking heavily and passes out may be suffering from acute alcohol poisoning and could die if you don’t help. Signs of alcohol poisoning include:
- Person cannot be awakened
- Cold, clammy, or bluish skin
- Breathing is slow and/or irregular
- Person has vomited while passed out
TAKE ACTION!
- Call 911, and do NOT leave the person alone
- Never put the person to bed to sleep it off
- Turn the person on his or her side
- If breathing stops, perform CPR or find someone who knows how
Need help but worried about the consequences? Check out the Good Samaritan Provision.
For more information on Alcohol Poisoning please contact GORD.
Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and its effects
The Stages of Alcohol Intoxication
| BAC (g/100 ml of blood or g/210 l of breath) |
Stage |
Clinical Symptoms |
| 0.01 - 0.05 |
Lightheaded |
- Behavior nearly normal by ordinary observation - Relaxation, feeling warm, minor judgment impairment |
| 0.03 - 0.12 |
Buzzed, Euphoric |
- Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness - Increased self-confidence, decreased inhibitions - Diminished attention, judgment and control - Beginning of sensory-motor impairment - Exaggerated emotions, positive and negative |
| 0.09 - 0.25 |
Impairment, Excitement |
- Loss of critical judgment - Impairment of perception, memory and comprehension - Decreased sensory response; increased reaction time - Reduced visual acuity, peripheral vision and glare recovery - Sensory-motor incoordination; impaired balance - Drowsiness, fatigue |
| 0.16 - 0.30 |
Very Drunk, Confusion |
- Disorientation, mental confusion; dizziness - Exaggerated emotional states - Disturbances of vision and of perception of color, form, motion and dimensions - Increased pain threshold - Decreased muscle coordination; staggering gait; slurred speech - Apathy, lethargy |
| 0.25 - 0.40 |
Dazed, Stupor |
- General inertia; approaching loss of motor functions - Markedly decreased response to stimuli - Marked muscular incoordination; inability to stand or walk - Nausea, vomiting - Impaired consciousness; blackouts likely |
| 0.31 - 0.50 |
Coma |
- Complete unconsciousness - Depressed or absent reflexes - Subnormal body temperature - Incontinence - Impairment of circulation and respiration - Possible coma, alcohol poisoning, death |
| 0.45+ |
Death |
- Death from respiratory arrest |
Am I Still Drunk?
The body gets rid of approximately .015 blood alcohol every hour. The following calculations were done based on this number. You can check below to see how long it might take to get your B.A.C. level to 0, based on your peak BAC from the night before. Police give a out a significant number of DUI tickets between 7 and 10am! You might think you’ve “slept it off” but if you’ve over-indulged, you might be wrong.
| B.A.C. | Hours | B.A.C. | Hours | |
| .015 | 1 | .23 | 16 | |
| .03 | 2 | .245 | 17 | |
| .045 | 3 | .26 | 18 | |
| .06 | 4 | .275 | 19 | |
| .075 | 5 | .29 | 20 | |
| .09 | 6 | .305 | 21 | |
| .105 | 7 | .32 | 22 | |
| .11 | 8 | .335 | 23 | |
| .125 | 9 | .35 | 24 | |
| .140 | 10 | .365 | 25 | |
| .155 | 11 | .38 | 26 | |
| .17 | 12 | .395 | 27 | |
| .185 | 13 | .41 | 28 | |
| .20 | 14 | .425 | 29 | |
| .215 | 15 | .44 | 30 |
Example: If your peak BAC is .20, it will be approximately 14 hours before you BAC reaches .00.
WARNING: Do not use this chart to estimate when it might be safe to drive! Everyone’s body processes alcohol differently.
Women and Alcohol:
Men and women do not respond to alcohol in the same way. Current research shows that women’s bodies are less efficient at mitigating alcohol’s effect. There are many factors that influence this difference.
- Body size- On average, women are built smaller than men. When equal amounts of alcohol are consumed, a woman will have a higher BAC due to smaller blood volume.
- Body composition- The average female carries more body fat than a male, and body fat contains little water. Water dilutes alcohol and a woman’s lower body water results in less alcohol dilution
- Metabolic enzyme- alcohol dehydrogenase helps rid the body of alcohol, and women have 30% less in their stomachs than men. Therefore, more of the alcohol women drink enters the.
- Hormonal changes- Changes in the body’s response to alcohol can occur when a woman is about to have her period or is taking birth control.
For these reasons women can expect more impairment from alcohol than men when consuming equal amounts.
Research suggests that women develop problems with alcohol more quickly and severely than men and include:
- Faster progression to liver and pancreas damage
- Faster progression to alcoholism
- Anemia, malnutrition, stomach irritation and low resistance to disease
- Inability to use calcium and vitamins leading to an increased risk of osteoporosis
- Women who drink two or more drinks daily significantly increase their risk of developing breast cancer
GHB- Is that cup of beer what it appears to be?
Roofies, rope, roaches, liquid X, cherry meth, GHB, rohypnol. These are just some of the names of a dangerous group of substances commonly known as “date rape drugs.” They are colorless, odorless, and nearly tasteless. When slipped into someone’s beverage, they can cause a range of reactions from drowsiness and nausea to coma or even death when mixed with alcohol. Those who slip these substances into another’s drink—usually a woman’s—can be charged with second-degree assault even if no rape has occurred. If you suspect you have been “roofed” or “GHBed,” freeze your pee! Then seek immediate assistance so you can be tested for the drug.
Some Interesting Tidbits:
- The body’s inability to use vitamins as a result of drinking can lead to dull skin and hair, and aggravated acne
- “The drink provoketh the desire but taketh away the performance” –W. Shakespeare (i.e. sexual dysfunction and impotence)
- Alcohol increases estrogen levels in men and chronic use has been associated with the loss of body hair and muscle mass, increase of fatty tissue, feminization of the body, development of swollen breasts and shrunken testicles
- A typical shot of liquor like vodka, gin, whiskey, and rum (1.5 ounces) contains approx 65 calories while liqueurs can contain up to 188 calories per shot. To learn more about caloric values of alcohol drinks, see the Alcohol Calorie Calculator.
- Malnutrition is common among alcoholics and heavy drinkers because alcohol displaces protein-, vitamin-, and mineral-containing foods in the diet, and chronic alcohol consumption results in maldigestion and malabsorption of essential nutrients.