Why you can die from drinking alcohol substitutes

If a chemical substance gets inside a living creature, it becomes poisoned. Alcohol in modern society is considered to be a food product, and it is sold in grocery stores next to sweets and vegetables. In fact, ethyl alcohol, which is part of many alcoholic drinks, is precisely the chemical substance that a living organism is not supposed to process by nature. In short, drinking ethanol is an unnatural process, and alcoholic drinks themselves should be considered poisons.

But the whole complexity of the situation lies in the fact that the human body is able to cope with a small amount of this chemical without any visible dysfunction, and its use even causes the individual to have a pleasant feeling of intoxication, relaxation and euphoria. However, even a small amount necessarily causes irreparable harm to all living things. It is not for nothing that the treatment of medical instruments and wounds in order to destroy microorganisms and bacteria is done with alcohol!

The quantitative threshold for a one-time intake of alcohol, at which no external, pronounced signs of poisoning are observed, is strictly individual for each individual. Many factors contribute to this: age, weight, habit of drinking it, the time period during which alcohol was consumed, food that entered the stomach at the same time as drinking - a snack, the state of health of the individual, the quality of the product taken.

Facts that not everyone knows about alcohol

Several facts proven by scientists reveal the whole truth about alcohol:

1. When drinking alcohol, every organ begins to break down. The more often and more a person drinks, the faster this process occurs.
2. Alcohol contains ethyl alcohol, which has narcotic properties. They stopped advertising this because it is not profitable for alcohol companies for people to know the truth.
3. This is also evidenced by the actions of drunk people. How often does a person hear from a friend or acquaintance that he does not remember what he did under the influence of alcohol or could not control himself and did something terrible.
4. Alcoholism is a terrible and difficult to treat addiction. Most patients cannot give up alcohol even after several courses of treatment and eventually die from destruction of internal organs, poisoning or other causes.
5. If a pregnant woman drinks alcohol in the first months of pregnancy, then her baby will have the same concentration of alcohol in the blood as the drinker herself. This is not to mention the consequences in the form of mental illness, underdevelopment and other diseases in born children.

However, drinking alcohol has more negative consequences. This also includes alcohol substitutes, from which people die from poisoning.

Causes of intoxication

Moonshine is obtained by distilling alcohol-containing products. It is prepared at home using special devices made independently or at a factory. The preparation of moonshine is carried out in several stages.

Stages:

• Preparing the mash,
• Passing the resulting substance through a special apparatus,
• Rectification,
• Final cleaning.

Quite often, when producing moonshine at home, the resulting product is not thoroughly cleaned. As a result, various impurities and fusel oils remain in moonshine, which have an adverse effect on human organs and systems.

Why is poisoning possible from such a drink? As a rule, the strength of moonshine is quite high, which can lead to an alcoholic overdose. What factors can provoke poisoning in adults?

Factors:

1. Poor quality purification of the drink, lack of necessary measures to remove impurities and fusel oils.
2. The first dose of the resulting moonshine contains methanol, it is recommended to get rid of it. However, some manufacturers leave the dangerous drink and consume it.
3. Storing the drink in dirty, low-quality containers.

It will not be possible to completely purify moonshine from various impurities and chemical components even if all conditions are carefully observed. Consumption of the product leads to rapid intoxication and a rather severe hangover. In children, poisoning occurs as a result of parental carelessness when the child tries moonshine left unattended.

What applies to alcohol surrogates?

Surrogates generally do not involve ingestion, since they are alcohol-containing products used for household needs. There are two groups of alcohol surrogates: with and without ethyl alcohol.

Ethyl alcohol contains such products as:

• Denatured alcohol (denatured alcohol). Contains alcohol in a concentration of about 82%.
• Varnish. This is a coating solution used to coat wood products to give them shine. The alcohol content in it can be up to 90% or higher.
• Butyl alcohol (butanol). Used as a solvent or replacement for fuels such as gasoline.
• Colognes and lotions. May contain about 50% ethanol or higher.
• Hydrolysis and sulfite alcohols. This is the same ethanol, only obtained after processing wood and is more toxic than regular ethanol.
• Stain. It is used for painting wooden surfaces and contains dyes in addition to ethanol.
• Tinctures of motherwort and hawthorn.

These are some of the first group's surrogates. The second includes:

• Methyl, propyl, amyl and formic alcohols;
• Butyl alcohol produced without the use of ethanol;
• Ethylene glycol. It contains brake fluids and antifreeze.

As it became clear from the products containing these substances, they are not intended for consumption at all. However, this does not stop alcohol dependent people who, in the later stages of addiction, may not care what to drink. poisoning with alcohol surrogates occurs , which entails a lot of consequences and often ends in death.
There are symptoms by which you can recognize poisoning and have time to save a person’s life.

Symptoms of poisoning with alcohol substitutes

Poisoning with alcohol substitutes ICD 10 (international classification of diseases) is represented by codes T51.1 - T52.9.

Symptoms will depend primarily on the type of surrogate accepted. So, in people who are poisoned by alcohol with ethanol, the symptoms are not so dangerous. Surrogates that do not contain ethyl alcohol pose a great danger.

In both cases, common symptoms will be nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and dizziness. They are similar to those that occur with ordinary poisoning. The type of surrogate accepted can be determined by the symptoms characteristic of each of them.

Dangerous doses

Those who think that you can be poisoned by surrogate alcohol if you drink the same amount of alcohol as you usually consume at one time of normal alcohol are very mistaken. But the doses of counterfeits are negligibly small to cause severe intoxication and death:

• ethylene glycol: for poisoning - 50 ml, lethal dose - 100 ml,
• methyl alcohol: acute intoxication - 7 ml, death - 50 ml,
• acetone: you can get poisoned with 30 ml of the substance, die - from 50 to 200 ml,
• polish: poisoning at 50 ml, death - 150 g,
• isopropanol: acute intoxication from 0.5 mg/kg, death - from 240 g,
• dichloroethane: severe poisoning - 5 ml, human death - 20 ml.

Thus, a small amount of surrogates can lead to irreparable consequences, not to mention drinking the usual doses.

It should be remembered that not only poisoning from scorched vodka is possible, but also intoxication from wine products made on the basis of technical alcohols.

Symptoms of poisoning with surrogates containing ethyl alcohol

This poisoning is not so terrible compared to poisoning by surrogates of the second group, since ethanol is used to make alcoholic beverages. First, the person gets drunk, feels relaxed, peaceful, and is in a euphoric state.

With further use of the surrogate, symptoms of ordinary poisoning appear, as well as:

• The face and skin become pale;
• A person increasingly wants to go to the toilet;
• Pupils dilate;
• The mouth becomes dry and the person feels thirsty;
• A person cannot control his movements;
• It is difficult for a poisoned person to speak, speech is confused;
• Confusion or loss of consciousness may occur.

Prevention

The recommendations are not divided into specific rules. It is important to follow basic rules. Prevention of intoxication with alcohol surrogates:

• buy products in special trusted places;
• follow the rules for storing and transporting alcohol;
• reduce the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed;
• a high-quality alcoholic product costs over 100 rubles;
• do not purchase alcohol from your hands;
• alcohol must have a tax stamp containing the necessary information on the production and storage of the product.

Symptoms of methanol poisoning

Methanol or wood alcohol acts on the body as psychotropic drugs. You can die by taking just 50 milliliters of the substance. Symptoms of methanol poisoning include:

• Symptoms of common poisoning: nausea, dizziness, etc.;
• Virtually absent feeling of intoxication;
• Dilated pupils that do not respond to light;
• Vision problems: inability to focus, black spots before the eyes, etc.;
• A few days after poisoning, the patient begins to experience pain in the joints and muscles;
• The temperature rises;
• The skin becomes dry, as do the mucous membranes;
• The pressure drops;
• The patient is worried about palpitations;
• Consciousness becomes confused;
• The person becomes agitated, which may be accompanied by convulsions.

If help is not provided in time, a person may go blind, fall into a coma or die.

When should you call an ambulance?

You can understand the desire to cope with poisoning on your own. Few people want to call doctors, much less go to the hospital. But there are conditions when you cannot do without the help of doctors.

If certain symptoms occur, then you can’t wait any longer, and you need to urgently call the doctors.

When to call an ambulance?

• Severely low temperature, sticky and cold sweat.
• Weak and at the same time rapid pulse. It may also be uneven.
• Loss of consciousness, development of coma.
• Severe vomiting, involuntary bowel movements or urination.
• Excessive redness of the body or, conversely, pallor.

Even one of the listed signs already indicates that it is time to call an ambulance. And if everyone is present, then a doctor’s visit is mandatory. After all, it is possible to fall into a deep coma, and after that not all people come to their senses. Therefore, it is better to take action immediately while there is still a chance for a successful outcome.

Symptoms of ethylene glycol poisoning

Ethylene glycol quickly spreads throughout the body, and the liver and kidneys take the brunt of it, since it is through them that the substance is excreted. Symptoms of ethylene glycol poisoning include:

• Feeling of intoxication in the first 12 hours, no signs of poisoning;
• Then nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea begin;
• A feeling of thirst appears;
• The skin takes on a blue tint, as do the mucous membranes;
• The pupils dilate;
• The temperature rises;
• It becomes difficult to breathe;
• Heart rate increases.

If the patient does not seek help or treatment does not help, his skin begins to turn yellow, his kidneys and liver fail, his skin itches and his urine darkens. In this case, death is possible.

Traditional methods of treatment

If an ambulance did not pick you up, you were able to wake up from alcohol on your own, but you feel very bad, listen to people’s advice:

1. Sleep is an important point in treatment. Shut down from the world and sleep until you feel better.
2. A warm shower (preferably a contrast shower, but not too cold), or even better, a bathhouse.
3. Citrus fruits are vitamin C and potassium, which you lost “thanks” to libations.
4. A “medicine” that has been helping for hundreds of years is cabbage brine (you can also use cucumber brine , but only for pickled, not pickled cucumbers).

Carefully. In no case “be fooled” by the offer to “get hung over” - this is a step towards alcohol dependence and a serious blow to the liver, which is already working at its limit.

Moonshine poisoning

Moonshine is another surrogate for alcohol due to the content of fusel oils in the first one and insufficient purification from them. Even if you follow all the manufacturing tricks, it is possible to get poisoned by moonshine. Then the same symptoms may appear as with ordinary poisoning or ethanol poisoning. There are no such symptoms as with poisoning with methyl alcohol or ethylene glycol, since they try to make moonshine with high quality and thoroughly clean it.

If you suspect poisoning with surrogates, you need to urgently help the poisoned person.

Preventive actions

Prevention of alcohol poisoning is moderate consumption of alcohol-containing drinks. Not the least important role is played by the correct selection of alcohol to avoid counterfeit.

We recommend reading: How to choose real cognac as a gift and for the home?

There are also special measures that will help you successfully survive a feast with alcohol:

• a few hours before sitting down to the table, drink a glass of the drink you plan to drink;
• Take a few tablets of activated charcoal an hour before and repeat while drinking;
• before sitting down at the table, eat a piece of butter or drink milk;
• never mix drinks, especially towards lower degrees;
• eat well. Meat, fatty foods, fish, potatoes, vegetables and fruits, compotes and juices are your friends during the feast. Carbonated sweet or mineral water are enemies.

You can also read: What is better and how to properly drink vodka?

I wish you successful and fun get-togethers with friends without poisoning or hangover! If you liked the article and find it useful, share it with your friends on social networks. We look forward to your comments.

Emergency care for poisoning with alcohol substitutes

Emergency care depends on the amount of alcohol taken and the patient’s condition. If he loses consciousness, he is laid on the floor and his head is turned to the side so that vomiting does not stop breathing if something happens. Then they call an ambulance and wait for the doctors to arrive, monitoring the patient’s condition.

If the poisoned person is not breathing or has a weak pulse, first call an ambulance, after which they begin artificial respiration and cardiac massage.

When the patient is conscious and can move, the first thing you need to do is call an ambulance. After this, the person is given charcoal or another sorbent and a laxative to drink. You can give him an enveloping drink like jelly.

Further assistance in case of poisoning by surrogates will be provided by doctors. This includes:

• Gastric lavage using a tube;
• Introduction of ethanol into the blood at a concentration of 5% or more;
• Taking diuretics and solutions for the speedy removal of surrogates;
• The use of hemodialysis - blood purification;
• Taking glucose, novocaine and vitamins.

Acute poisoning with alcohol and its substitutes is treated by restoring the functioning of failing organs and removing residual toxins. In these cases, an organ transplant may be needed.

If the patient was able to receive help in time and was cured, then there is no guarantee that he will live without complications and consequences after poisoning.

Diagnostics

In case of alcohol poisoning, diagnosis is carried out immediately. The doctor initially takes an anamnesis of the disease, studies the life history, conducts a general examination, and evaluates the smell from the oral cavity. The doctor examines the person’s condition and skin. Then laboratory tests are carried out. Diagnostic measures:

• general urine analysis;
• general and biochemical blood test;
• electrocardiogram;
• Ultrasound of the abdominal region and heart;
• CT;
• MRI;
• electroencephalogram.

An ECG helps to detect a disorder that poses a threat to the patient’s life and begin treatment on time.

Consequences of poisoning with alcohol surrogates

Although all alcoholic drinks contain ethanol, poisoning with their surrogates has many consequences. It doesn’t matter whether a person used surrogates with or without ethanol. In both cases, the same complications are possible.

Most deaths occurred among people with alcohol addiction. Their bodies have weakened over many years of drinking. Some organs cannot be saved, they fail, and even a transplant does not help. Then the heart may fail, breathing may stop, or another system of the body may fail, and the person dies.

Dangerous methanol can deprive a person of vision and cause paralysis; ethylene glycol can lead to kidney failure.

There is no safe substitute for alcohol; they should not all be consumed. This is the basis of poisoning prevention.

The mechanism of action of the poison on the body

Each toxic substance has its own effect on internal organs, however, since the poison passes through the digestive tract, all organs of the gastrointestinal tract, from the stomach to the kidneys, are at risk. Unable to cope with incoming poisons, the gastric mucosa reacts with ulcerative formations. Approximately one third of methanol and ethylene glycol are excreted by the kidneys, which leads to acute failure of organ functions, including the absence of urination, the rest enters the blood, causing a serious blow to the cells of the central nervous system, even leading to cardiac arrest.