ALCOHOL AND DRIVING

Any amount of alcohol in your blood impairs your hand - eye coordination and ability to drive. It is therefore best not to drink alcohol if you must drive.


It really does not matter whether you still feel energetic enough to hold your drink, and think you have the energy to drive. If you have been drinking, the alcohol is in your blood and your ability to drive is impaired! It takes time for your body to get rid of the alcohol, and it is therefore not advisable to operate any machinery, when you are under the influence of excess alcohol. If you set out to stay out late, designate a non-drinking driver, or use a Cab.


ALCOHOL AND MEDICATION

Whenever a person is on medication, it is advisable to avoid alcohol under all circumstances.
While many people believe it is wrong to take alcohol while under medication, there are situations in which you must NOT mix medication with alcohol.
In particular, when you are on medication that causes drowsiness such as sleeping pills, some antihistamines (sometimes taken for common cold and medication taken for anxiety and depression), alcohol could aggravate the sedative effects of the drugs, making the reaction unpredictable and possible dangerous.


ALCOHOL AND PREGNANCY

The dangers of alcohol consumption among pregnant women are quite high.  More often than not, pregnant women will indulge in portions of alcohol whether a glass of wine, bottle of beer or a cocktail without knowing the danger that comes with such indulgence.


The reality is that the unborn child is also exposed to the same drink.  Whatever, you eat or drink while pregnant goes directly through your blood stream into the placenta.  If you are having a drink, so will the baby too.


For the unborn child, the alcohol interferes with its ability to get enough oxygen and nourishment for normal cell development in the brain and other body organs.


Research has shown that a developing foetus has very little tolerance for alcohol and infants born to mothers who drink during pregnancy can have serious problems.


ALCOHOL AND GENDER

Legally, no person under the age of 18 years may legally consume alcohol.  However, older people are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol because it interferes with functions such as vision, hearing and reaction time, which deteriorate with time.  Older people tend to be on medication, and hence the possibility of dangerous side effects.


Women cannot drink as much as men since their bodies have proportionately less body water and more body fat, and alcohol does not dissolve easily in fat.


 ALCOHOL AND SLEEP                                                  

There are people who take alcohol with the assumption that it makes them get ‘good’ sleep.


Whenever a person reaches that stage whereby you need alcohol to get sleep, it means you are developing a tolerance to alcohol.


Sleep being a normal physiological state that acts as the restorative stage of an animal, an individuals body is at this stage of sleep carrying out various repair jobs of the different parts of your body that were worn out during normal wakefulness.


Heavy and excessive consumption of alcohol does not lead to sleep in the normal sense.  It leads to a state of unconsciousness in which state the person fails to achieve the repairing stage of sleep leading to drunken sleep, hence one wakes up with tiredness which is more like coming out of a semi-coma, without repairing the body as happens in normal sleep.


ALCOHOL AND FOOD

When one decides to have a drink it is highly recommended that you have a meal before you set out.


This is because alcohol first passes through the stomach and the small intestines where it is absorbed into the blood stream.  The blood then carries the alcohol to all parts of the body, including the brain.  Food in the stomach slows down the rate of absorption of alcohol and so slows down its effects.


Foods with a high fat content such as fish and chips, milk or yoghurt are particularly effective in slowing down alcohol absorption.


ALCOHOL AND HANGOVER

Most people who take alcohol have different theories on how long it takes for one to sober up and what one needs to eat or drink in order to sober up faster. 


While some say black coffee would be the ideal drink, other schools of thought argue that a cold shower or a breeze of fresh air would suffice.


Scientific experts say that to get rid of alcohol, the body has to break it down into gas and water in the liver.  The liver can get rid of about 1 unit of alcohol per hour and nothing can speed it up.


Fresh air or black coffee might make you feel a bit more alert, water might help you to avoid a hangover, mints might mask the smell but none will make you sober more quickly.