Symptoms of alcohol poisoning

Food poisoning and alcohol poisoning are very common. These accidents are caused by people's random food choices. For example, when eating seafood, fish, and meat, it is best not to choose them together. This can easily cause food poisoning and body allergies, and it also has a great impact on human bones. Alcohol poisoning is also caused by many reasons. What are the symptoms of alcohol poisoning?

What are the symptoms of alcohol poisoning? Many people don’t know much about it. When such a situation occurs, the patient must be treated in a timely manner, otherwise the patient’s life will be in great danger. This is also something that needs to be understood.

Symptoms of Alcohol Intoxication:

1. Temporary black vision or memory loss;

2. Frequent disputes or fights with family members or friends;

3. Continued drinking to relax, get high, fall asleep, cope with problems, or feel "normal";

4. Headache, anxiety, insomnia, nausea or other unpleasant symptoms occur when you stop drinking;

5. Flushed skin, broken capillaries on the face, hoarseness, trembling hands, and chronic diarrhea. These symptoms are particularly associated with chronic alcoholism.

1. Acute alcohol intoxication

The clinical manifestations vary from person to person, and the onset of poisoning symptoms also varies. They are positively correlated with the amount of alcohol consumed and the ethanol content in the blood, and are also related to individual sensitivity. It is roughly divided into three stages: ① Excitement stage: when the blood alcohol content reaches 200-990mg/L, dizziness, fatigue, loss of self-control, euphoria, increased speech, sometimes rudeness, emotionality, facial flushing or paleness, and alcohol smell on the breath; ② Ataxia stage: when the blood alcohol concentration reaches 1000-2999mg/L, the patient has uncoordinated movements, staggering gait, clumsy movements, incoherent speech, nystagmus, restlessness, diplopia, etc.; ③ Lethargy stage: blood alcohol concentration is above 3000mg/L. The patient is drowsy, pale, has low body temperature, cold and clammy skin, and slightly cyanotic lips. In severe cases, the patient may fall into a deep coma, suffer from Chen-Shi respiration, have a rapid heartbeat, suffer from incontinence, and die from respiratory failure. It may also be caused by weakened pharyngeal reflex, leading to vomiting after meals, causing aspiration pneumonia or death from suffocation. Lacunar infarctions and acute alcoholic cardiomyopathy have also been reported. Alcohol inhibits glycogenolysis, causing a significant decrease in liver glycogen, leading to hypoglycemia and aggravating coma. The patient's exhaled breath and vomitus have an odor of alcohol, and the measurement of ethanol in the blood and urine is helpful for diagnosis.

2. Alcohol dependence and withdrawal syndrome

When patients develop physical dependence on alcohol, once they stop drinking or suddenly reduce the amount, a series of alcohol dependence withdrawal syndromes with central nervous system depression as the main feature will appear.

(1) Psychological dependence: strong desire to drink, drinking without time, place or occasion.

(2) Physical dependence usually develops 6 to 12 hours after the last alcohol consumption, peaks 2 to 3 days later, and improves after 4 to 5 days. Initially, patients experience coarse tremors in their hands and even in their trunk, as well as tongue tremors.

(3) Autonomic dysfunction: insomnia, anxiety, panic, nightmares, increased pulse and breathing, increased body temperature, followed by hallucinations, mainly auditory hallucinations. The patient's orientation is still intact, and the content of the auditory hallucinations is insults or persecution. The patient may take extreme actions under the control of such hallucinations. The most serious cases may develop delirium tremens and disorientation 3-5 days after quitting drinking, often accompanied by ataxia, hyperreflexia, and epileptic seizures; or persecution delusions, leading to suicidal, self-injurious, or aggressive behaviors. The mortality rate is 3% to 4% for patients without complications and with timely treatment; once delirium tremens occurs, the mortality rate reaches 10% to 15%. About 90% of alcohol-dependent people suffer from damage to the liver, nervous system, etc., which can complicate the clinical manifestations.

Through the above introduction, we have some understanding of the symptoms of alcohol poisoning. Therefore, when such a situation occurs, timely treatment is required. Alcohol itself has a great impact on the human liver, so you should not drink too much, otherwise it will cause alcohol poisoning, which is a great threat to human life. This is also something you should pay attention to.