What to do to reduce the harmful effects of alcohol on health

Chronic ethanol poisoning occurs with long-term alcohol use. Patients experience weight loss, anorexia, diarrhea due to liver and intestinal cell damage, pale skin due to anemia, cirrhosis, liver cancer, memory loss, tremors, and sometimes mental disorders.

However, a more dangerous and often fatal condition is the use of alcohol containing methanol (a type of alcohol used only in industry). Methanol, after being introduced into the body, will be converted into Formaldehyde through the enzyme Alcohol-Dehydrogenase and then into Formic acid through the enzyme Acetaldehyde-Dehydrogenase.

Methanol metabolites are directly toxic to the liver and kidneys, with symptoms of acute renal failure, toxic hepatitis, and especially severe acidosis. When first drinking alcohol containing methanol, the patient only shows symptoms of staggering, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, etc., similar to a normal state of drunkenness, making the drinker mistakenly think that he or she is actually being poisoned. If left untreated, the patient will gradually fall into a state of cyanosis, coma, convulsions, electrolyte disturbances, hypotension, and rapid death. Cases of methanol poisoning need to be taken immediately to a medical facility for timely emergency treatment, but even if saved, there is still a high risk of leaving many neurological sequelae.

To reduce the harmful effects of alcohol and prevent alcohol poisoning, the Food Safety Department of the Ministry of Health recommends: do not use too much alcohol (less than 30 ml per day with alcohol concentration of 30% or more). Do not drink industrial alcohol and alcohol with methanol content higher than 0.05%. Do not drink mixed alcohol, alcohol soaked with leaves, poisonous roots, animal organs of unknown toxicity, fish bile or alcohol soaked based on personal experience. In particular, do not let children under 16 years old drink alcohol and prohibit minors (under 18 years old) from drinking alcohol or other types of drinks with alcohol concentration of 14 degrees or more. Do not drink when the origin is unknown or there is no circulation certificate from the competent authority. Do not drink alcohol when hungry, tired or stressed.

When drinking alcohol and feeling dizzy, we should find a way to induce vomiting, then rub both cheeks vigorously. After drinking alcohol, we should drink plenty of water to prevent dehydration, especially when vomiting continuously. Warm water is better than cold water, and we should also drink other types of water such as lemon juice, orange juice, fruit juice, banana smoothie, and water from stewed beans (especially green beans). Drinking these types of water many times will help the liver detoxify in mild cases. Unbutton your shirt collar, remove your belt and lie in a cool place, avoiding drafts after drinking a lot of alcohol.

Do not use drugs that have liver-tonifying effects for the purpose of detoxifying alcohol. Do not take vitamins B1, B6, folic acid... to treat headaches caused by drunkenness because they can harm liver cells. Paracetamol, aspirin and some pain relievers and fever reducers, when used with alcohol or beer, will increase the risk of irritation of the stomach lining, sometimes causing gastrointestinal bleeding. Do not take anti-emetics because they can retain toxins in the body. When the liver cannot eliminate them in time, the toxins will cause more serious damage, leading to cirrhosis and even liver cancer over time.