- In view of the New Year's Eve celebrations, they remember that alcohol is "a poison for the central nervous system" that can have "irreversible effects on adolescence"
- Depending on consumption, it can cause from drowsiness, euphoria and falls to deep coma with loss of response to stimuli, respiratory arrest and death.
Alcohol is the drug most consumed among adolescents and alcohol intoxication "is the most frequent complication of drug use among the youngest". This is stated by Dr. Julio Armas, deputy physician of the Ribera healthcare group at the University Hospital of Vinalopó and specialist in Emergencies and Medical Emergencies. “Young people are more susceptible to the adverse effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, in the group of those under 15 years of age, the appearance of ethyl poisoning is more frequent, and its complications are more serious ”, explains Dr. Armas in the face of the New Year's Eve celebrations.
The Vinalopó Hospital specialist defines alcohol intoxication as "the increase in the ethanol content in the blood above the levels tolerated by each person, abruptly and that includes from mild disinhibition to depression, coma and death" . On the other hand, he adds, the ethyl coma, "a term with which excessive alcohol consumption is popularly identified, refers to the more advanced phases, where loss of consciousness, lack of response to stimuli and respiratory depression appears" .
The director of Primary Care of the Hospital de Denia, Dr. Antonio Barceló, explains for his part that the trend in the last 10 years points to consumption in profiles "increasingly younger, increasing the incidence in women." "The appearance of abusive consumption at an earlier age is associated with the false myth of the normalization of adverse effects, since most of the time they are mild and temporary," insists Dr. Armas. "The European average is 15.9 years," he adds. For the medical director of Ribera Hospital of Molina, Dr. Eduardo Rodríguez de la Vega, alcohol is "toxic to the central nervous system." For this reason, he adds, "its consumption in moderate amounts produces disinhibition and this is associated with initial euphoria, but when its accumulation in the blood exceeds the ability to metabolize this substance, the loss of cognitive faculties begins that can lead to coma."
The head of the Emergency Department Ribera Povisa hospital, Dr. Ángel Martín Joven, assures that alcohol intoxication has an effect directly proportional to its serum concentration which, in turn, depends on factors such as the speed of ingestion and units ingested, whether the stomach has food, the body mass and the proportion of water in the body or even genetic factors that influence the more or less slow metabolism of alcohol”. "Depending on the amount of alcohol ingested and, therefore, its blood levels, initially a euphoric sensation is produced, which gives way to an alteration in motor capacity, lack of coordination, loss of judgment and finally, loss of consciousness or alcohol coma in the central nervous system”, explains Dr. Martín Joven, who points out other serious alterations such as a severe drop in blood glucose levels, hypothermia, cardiac arrhythmias, seizures or kidney failure.
Dr. Rodríguez de la Vega insists that the ethyl coma that is produced by severe alcohol poisoning "can even cause death." "Its depressant action on the central nervous system can compromise vital centers, such as the respiratory system, and cause the patient to fall into cardiorespiratory arrest." The main thing, in the domestic sphere, he explains, is "not to underestimate the possible complications of an ethylic coma by mistakenly thinking that an individual who has ingested alcoholic beverages and is unconscious will recover." “This person may be in an ethylic coma and due to the ignorance of those around him, complications that can be lethal are overlooked,” he adds.
Along the same lines, Dr. Julio Armas pronounces: “The symptoms associated with consumption should not be underestimated, with the false label of drunk, because the appearance of serious clinical pictures can be rapid and potentially lethal ”. And it goes further. "The most important thing is to establish a limit at the beginning of consumption or with the appearance of the first symptoms, which will serve to avoid future complications," he explains, and go to a health center "if the person is confused, dazed, with shortness of breath or relaxation of sphincters, with persistent vomiting, has suffered a fall or has language disturbances ”. Of course, also, with respiratory depression or signs of an alcoholic coma.
In severe cases of alcohol poisoning, specialists from the Ribera health group recommend going to a health center or requesting urgent medical attention, but while placing the patient in a lateral safety position (left lateral decubitus), avoiding airway closure if Vomiting occurs, as well as possible bruises from involuntary movements and falls. In addition, they insist on the importance of maintaining a good body temperature of the affected person, covering them with a dry blanket to prevent hypothermia and keeping the patient under surveillance until the arrival of medical assistance.
