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As a lead up to the holiday season, I wrote a short piece for the CBC blog about the dangers of alcohol consumption. You can read it here:
http://www.cbc.ca/life/wellness/holiday-heart-and-other-drinking-health-…
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Most people these days are well aware of the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as the career ending potential of drunken displays, alcohol can bring with it a number of health hazards that don’t make the headlines.
While the long-term benefits of alcohol have been debated for nearly 30 years, ever since red wine was thought to explain the “French Paradox”: the counterintuitive finding that France has low rates of heart disease despite a seemingly unhealthy diet, unfortunately, the red wine theory has not held up well over the years. Studies of resveratrol, the main antioxidant in red wine, have failed to show any benefit.
Often lost in the conversation are the potential dangers of alcohol consumption. Outside of the obvious long-term dangers of alcoholism, abuse and addiction, even occasional social drinkers need to be aware of some dangers to heavy drinking before heading out to their holiday fêtes.
What is “holiday heart syndrome”?
Holiday heart syndrome is a term for a reason. The name was coined in 1978 after doctors in New Jersey started noticing patients showing up to emergency rooms with arrhythmias after bouts of heavy drinking, usually during weekends or holidays. These patients were apparently healthy with no history of heart problems or other risk factors.
The most common arrhythmia seen with holiday heart syndrome is atrial fibrillation, a condition that increases the chance of stroke and often requires people to be on lifelong blood thinners. Fortunately, holiday heart syndrome can resolve if the drinking stops. So despite the widely held belief that alcohol is good for your heart, heavy drinking at a holiday party may be enough to cause an arrhythmia and land you in the hospital.
The risk of alcohol poisoning
Alcohol poisoning is more common than people realize. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention an average of six people a day die from alcohol poisoning and three quarters of them are between the ages of 35-64. Most of them are men.
Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, so apart from the nausea and vomiting that comes with over drinking, alcohol can slow your breathing, drop your core body temperature and cause seizures. How much alcohol it takes to put your life at risk depends, to a large extent, on your height, weight, when your last meal was and a number of other factors, so every person is different. However, binge drinking is typically defined as more than 5 drinks for men and 4 drinks for women within a short span of time, usually 2 hours. So the safest course of action, if you must imbibe, is to pace yourself and space out your drinks to give your liver time to break down the alcohol.
You can learn more about the signs and symptoms of alcohol poisoning at the CDC’s website: https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/alcohol-poisoning-deaths/index.html
The problem with energy drinks
Alcohol and energy drinks are a dangerous mix. Although these combinations have become very popular in recent years, hence the rise of the “vodka red bull”.
Research has found that mixing energy drinks with alcohol is linked to high-risk sexual activity. College students who mix energy drinks with alcohol were more likely to engage in sex with a casual partner and be intoxicated while having sex. Other researchers have found that having an energy drink and alcohol cocktail at a bar made subjects three times more likely to leave the bar intoxicated and four times more likely to drive upon leaving the bar. Given that the FDA took a number of pre-mixed caffeinated alcoholic beverages off the market in 2010, this might be one cocktail to avoid during the holiday festivities.
Drink size
The key to enjoying alcohol…
