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Some Facts on Driving & Alcohol
Half
a pint of beer is approximately the equivalent of a single
measure of a spirit, so a pint of beer will have roughly
the same alcohol content as a double whisky.
Men can 'hold their drink' better than women
While everyone absorbs alcohol into the blood stream at
a different rate, an average size man could be over the
limit by drinking as little as two pints of ordinary strength
bitter. An average woman could be over the limit after drinking
the equivalent of one and a half pints.
Body
Weight and Fatty Tissue. Absorbed alcohol is distributed
by the blood and mixes evenly with the water in the body,
which makes up nearly two thirds of the body weight. The
lighter person has less water in the body, and will therefore
reach a higher blood alcohol level for a given consumption
than would a heavier person.
Women average proportionately more fatty tissue than men of
comparable weight, so for the same amount of drink they will
reach a higher blood alcohol level.
A
small person is more affected by alcohol than a larger person.
The smaller person has less water in their body and will therefore
reach a higher blood alcohol level for a given consumption
than would a bigger person.
Food
in the stomach slows down the rate at which alcohol has its
effects.
Alcohol rapidly enters the bloodstream via the stomach and
intestine walls and circulates to all parts of the body, including
the brain.
Alcohol
is not a stimulant as the general misconception, it's a depressant
so it slows down the processes occurring in the brain making
you less alert.
The reason for this misunderstanding is that at first alcohol
seems to make a person stimulated and light headed, but what
is actually happening is that the alcohol is depressing (or
slowing) the part of the brain called the social restraint
centre and thus we feel less inhibited.
The brain is affected a bit at a time beginning with the most
recently developed part which is the frontal lobes (29% in
human beings; 17% in chimps and 3.5% in cats). This centre
deals with all the functions which make us Homo sapiens, i.e.
self awareness, advanced planning and impulse control. The
next part to be effected is the cerebral cortex which controls
complex reasoning, calculations and other sophisticated skills
including memory and perception. Further down the brain is
the primitive part which regulates your more basic functions,
i.e. emotion, hunger, thirst, anger, fear etc.
Most
alcohol consumed is not eliminated out of the body
when you go to the toilet .Most alcohol is eliminated slowly
by the liver. As the blood flows back from the general body
circulation, some 2%of the alcohol consumed finally passes
out via the kidneys in your urine.
It
is dangerous to drink alcohol when taking drugs ! Alcohol
interacts with other drugs, often intensifying their effect.
Barbiturates.
A moderate amount of alcohol along with a small dose of
barbiturates (downers) can kill you. Many accidental deaths
happen this way.
Marijuana.
Heavy users can develop a cross-tolerance, i.e. a special
sensitivity that makes them react very strongly to a small
dose of alcohol.
Other
Drugs.
Many other drugs can also multiply the effects of alcohol,
including heroin, methadone and mild tranquillisers. Some
asthma, cold and hay fever medicine can increase the effects
of drinking.
Black
coffee does not help sober you up after drinking too much.
The elimination of alcohol cannot be speeded up. Coffee
may keep you awake and make you think you're less impaired,
but it does not reduce your blood alcohol level.
It is impossible to speed up alcohol elimination. Even sleeping
for 8 hours only removes the alcohol from four pints of
ordinary beer. Getting rid of alcohol requires time, not
coffee, fresh air, cold showers, peppermints or painkillers
!
Drinking lots of non-alcoholic drinks can help the hangover
by preventing the dehydration which alcohol causes. Coffee
is in fact not very good, as it is a diuretic and therefore
can worsen the dehydration effect.
After
drinking the equivalent of 5 pints of beer, the likelihood
of you having an accident is at least 30 times greater.
Just one drink is enough to impair your driving performance.
Having twice the legal limit of alcohol in your blood makes
you at least thirty times more likely to have an accident.
Alcohol
does not warm you up in cold weather !
Alcohol widens the blood vessels nearest the skin, allowing
more blood to be close to the surface. In cold surroundings
therefore more heat will be lost from the body and although
you may feel warmer, you will be losing heat and could be
in danger from hypothermia. The body core only has to lose
two degrees centigrade for hypothermia to set in. If you
lose ten degrees centigrade recovery is unlikely.
Different
kinds of alcoholic drinks contain different types of alcohol
this is a general misconception ;all alcoholic drinks contain
the same kind of alcohol, called ethyl alcohol. There are
other kinds of alcohol, for example methyl and butyl alcohol,
but these are only used for industrial purposes and are
extremely dangerous to drink.
The
most rapid absorption into the blood occurs with drinks
having about 40% alcohol by volume, such as whisky, gin
or vodka. Less concentrated drinks such as beer and cider
are absorbed more slowly. The slower the rate of absorption,
the lower the maximum blood/breath alcohol concentration.
Sticking to one type of drink such as beer or cider doesn't
stop you going over the limit. It's not the type of drink
that's important, it's the total amount of alcohol it contains.
| Type
of drink
|
Typical
alcohol strength by volume |
| Spirits |
40% |
| Liqueurs |
15-55% |
| Ports
and sherries |
17%
upwards |
| Wine |
10%
- 15% |
| Ordinary
Beer and Cider |
3
- 5% |
Alcohol
is absorbed into the body faster than food. Since alcohol
is already in a liquid form it acts extremely quickly; unlike
food, no digestion is necessary. Some absorption of alcohol
occurs in the stomach, but most takes place in the first
part of the small intestine. In contrast, most food has
to pass far into the latter part of the small intestine
before absorption.
After drinking one unit of alcohol 50% of the alcohol consumed
will have been absorbed into the bloodstream within 10 minutes.
Long drinks made with mixers have a faster effect as they
enter the bloodstream even quicker.
The presence of food in the stomach, particularly fatty
substances will slow absorption of alcohol and so lessens
the maximum blood alcohol level attained.
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