Alcohol withdrawal – Medical Blog

Everybody who regularly reads the latest news has the reason of being confused: why the views on different products and substances, such as fat, proteins, carbohydrates or alcohol are constantly changing – yesterday it was written that they are healthy, today it’s said that they are extremely detrimental to health, and tomorrow everything will be vice verse again… The hottest discussions usually arise around alcohol: some scientific researches indicate that it prevents from infarctions and strokes, others prove that it destroys liver and stimulates the disposition to aggression. How can be a discrepant character of alcohol explained? Here are the findings of one more investigation, on the example of which we’ll consider how the failures happen.

The latest research, carrying on the tradition of investigations of alcohol’s advantages and promising to become a real sensation is an article written by researchers-gerontologists from the University of Bari (Italy), which was published in an issue of “Neurology” magazine from 22.05.2007. In this article it is said that moderate drinkers suffer from senile dementia less than teetotallers. Having observed the group of aged italians, 1445 out of whom didn’t suffer from mental disorders and 121 of whom suffered from syndrome of mild cognitive impairment, the scientists found that this syndrome aggravated more quickly among those people, liable to mild cognitive impairment, who drank “less than one portion” of alcohol, than among those ones, who didn’t drink at all. Those, who drank more, had as poor results as teetotallers. So, wait for new headlines like “alcohol strengthens brains” or “drink a glass of vodka every day and you’ll never be in your dotage”.

The matter is that the researchers from Bari in their article didn’t make such categoric statements. They just mentioned that one glass a day, perhaps (perhaps!!) prevents from senile dementia. The history of such investigations shows that when the researches simply observe a large group of people, not resorting to active interference, it’s difficult to differentiate the influence of alcohol from others peculiarities of mode of life. In this article it is clearly said: “Perhaps, mild cognitive impairment is prevented with a temperate lifestyle as such (its certain peculiarities can differ under different national and cultural conditions). Consequently, cognitive impairment is prevented not with the influence of alcohol or its components directly”.

In other words, you can by yourself, relying on your own experience and common sense, explain how the taking of alcohol withdrawal is connected with the keenness of mentality. Then, you just won’t need any data of neurology. 70 year-old men and women, who regularly drink a glass of wine, for example, may drink moderately exactly because they keep a good physical shape, eat healthy food, don’t suffer from any serious deceases and, consequently, don’t take any drastic remedies, which are incompatible with alcohol. They may also actively communicate with people; and all these factors, as well as moderate taking of alcohol are connected, as the researchers have proved, with the keen wit preserving. Of course, when the researchers investigate the role of a certain factor, they try to differentiate it from the others. But in practice it is not always easy. There exist certain ethic norms, which don’t let the investigators make the patients drink defined doses of alcohol by force. The researchers’ power over their patients is limited, so they have to investigate what they can watch.

Very often we can hear people’s opinions that alcohol helps them to live. Sometimes a person can assure everybody that alcohol helps him or her to cope with stress, saying, “It easy for me to communicate if I am drunk” or “Alcohol is natural remedy, so I prefer it to the pills for all ills” or even “Alcoholism is an elementary laxity, but I can control myself”. But at this time we even don’t mean there is a problem and on the contrary we underscore our ability to cope with this problem. Also we often say that alcohol withdrawal is not important for us, assuring people we can fight with difficulties of life. It’s nonsense!

What is the base of our opinion when we say “He is the alcoholic” or “She is addicted to alcohol” or “Alcoholism is a self-destruction”? Where is that fine line separating the disease from the norm in our understanding?

First of all, the main thing for us is our subjective assessment. We must independently determine our attitude to alcohol, if it is good or bad for us. In other words, what direction will the scales swing in, if we put benefits of alcohol on the one hand and consequences of these benefits – on the other hand?

Let’s start with understanding what addiction means. The essence of any addiction (including alcoholism) connected with its insidious. Don’t believe rumors that some people may born alcoholic! It is only our way of life making us an alcoholic! And nothing else, although the concept of heredity isn’t canceled. Many people ask themselves where that alcoholic line is. How many shots of vodka we should drink to become alcoholics? Of course, there is no exact answer. But we must remember that all these banal fascinations may turn into real alcohol dependence.
There are many reasons why we can not objectively look at ourselves and discover the danger. One of them is that we do not link the reason, causing the need for alcohol, with its consequence – the usage. That’s why alcoholism is called “disease of consciousness”. Desire to “drink” is not our vital requirement as desire to eat or to sleep. It appears because of certain situations. To be exact – because of experiences connected with these certain situations.

For example, being in the company of people, emotionally insecure person experiences a strong confusion and heightened anxiety because he or she thinks that some people won’t notice or misjudge him (her). But when this emotionally insecure person begins to drink alcohol, he or she feels the strain (emotional stress) becomes weak. The fear has disappeared and a pleasant feeling of confidence has come. Other people immediately take notice of this person. And if this situation repeats again and again, the following plan appears in person’s mind:

1. I feel uncomfortable, I can’t cope with my problems, I’m scared.
2. I allow myself to drink and all the problems will disappear.

In the future this person use that plan in all areas of his or her life. It becomes a habit, very bad habit! Internal discomfort, which signals about the presence of problems, forces the person to avoid every effort with the help of elementary stress relief (drinking alcohol). In such a way this person doesn’t solve problems and on the contrary gets even more problems. It becomes a habit to solve problems with the help of alcohol. In order not to prevent transforming of periodic usage of alcohol into the intractable disease, every people must make a conclusion that alcohol withdrawal can save our life.

There exist a great number of delusions and even myths about healing properties of alcohol. To what extent do they correspond to the facts?

Alcohol helps to get warm quickly

Alcohol drinks are often called “heating”. Why? People are sure that spirit has a warming effect, and for a frozen man one gulp of a strong drink will be the best remedy. This statement includes just a little bit of truth. The fact is that only a small dose of alcohol (about 50 gr. of vodka or cognac) can bring a real use. Such dose widen vessels and normalizes a blood supply of inner organs. The next portions of alcohol intensifies a cutaneous blood flow. The skin turns red, a pleasant sense of warming appears. But this feeling is rather delusive – actually, in this case emission of heat increases and the organism begins to freeze even more than before. At the same time the man has a feeling of an entire wellbeing. So, the warming effect of alcohol is strongly exaggerated.

Alcohol stimulates the appetite

Alcohol drinks really can provoke the appetite. But even a light hunger can be provoked only with strong drinks in a very small dose (20-25 gr. of vodka). It affects the center of satiation and activates it. The whole process takes njt less than 15-20 minutes. That’s why, drinking “for appetite” right before taking food is an utter fallacy. Actually, hunger won’t appear momentally, it must take some time.
Moreover, alcohol before taking food is not a way out of the situation. Spirit will behave rather agressively towards the mucous tunic of an empty stomach. It will suffer also, from hydrochloric acid generating of wich will increase too. As a result, the gastritis can be developed. Isn’t this a too high price for the eating with gusto?

Alcohol relieves stress

Often people, who cannot make up their mind to alcohol withdrawal say that alcohol help them to raise the spirits. But in most cases they do it incorrectly. Actually, the needed quality of alcohol is very small – about 20-30 ml. of vodka or cognac or 40 ml. of vine or martini. Such small doses relieve the inner tension and help to relax, that is corresponding to the term “to take off stress”. But unfortunately, for these aims much larger doses are usually used.

Alcohol raises the capacity for work

Many people refuse from the alcohol withdrawal, because they are sure that it raises the productivity of labour. Here we are speaking not about heavy or even moderate degree of drunkenness. We mean a light degree, which help to activate power of apprehension. But this feeling is absolutely subjective. Moreover, even small doses of alcohol cause the loss of attention and a sluggish mentality.

Many people don’t find anything wrong in taking some alcohol in the evening, at weekends or on high days and holidays. But few of them have a sense of proportion and strength of will. And an innocuous, at first sight, hobby is slowly growing into a pernicious habit. In this article 13 reasons for alcohol withdrawal are named, and the harm of alcohol and its influence on a human organism is described.

1. Alcohol is the reason for a lot of ilnesses, meannesses, indiscipline, wasted talents, senseless conflicts and poverty.

2. It’s difficult to find a greater evil than alcohol, which so persistenly and cruelly ruins million people’s health, destroys all tissues and organs of the human organism (cerebral cortex especially), human’s intellect and personality, that all this leads to an early death, at last.

3. The influnce of alcohol on human life becomes evident from the following facts: 50% of all accidents, 1/3 of suicides, 80% of deathes from cancer of esophagus happens because of alcohol abuse.

4. In the issue of scientific investigations, which were carried out with the use of the latest technologies, the scientists found, that a gradual diminution and shrinkage of the brain occurs among alcoholics as well as among moderate drinkers.

5. According to scientific research, drinking people have 15 times less chances of bearing a healthy baby, than not-drinking ones (note, we are speaking just about moderate drinkers, not alcoholics).

6. Alcohol, like any other narcotic,is harmful for human organism in all its kinds and in any dose, because it works like morphine or marijuana, that is, creates the illusion of happiness and kindness, making, at the same time, irremediable harm to the health.

7. According to the WHO (World Health Organization) data, every third man on the planet dies from the problems, relating to taking alcohol; every fifth – from the problems, related to smoking.

8. Any hard drinker’s assurance in the fact, that having drunk he feels a sense of reliefe, is a pure self-deception, caused with a paralysis of centers of attention and self-control.

9. According to statistic, drinkers live moderately 10-15 years less than non-drinking people. Smokers – 8 years less than non-smokers. These facts once more prove the harm of alcohol.

10. Alcohol creates the illusion of relaxation. But actually, the tension in brains and in the whole body remains, and when the intoxication is over, the tension becomes even stronger, that it was before taking alcohol. Moreover, it becomes aggravated with weakened will and the state of exhaustion.

11. For a conscious choice (to drink or not to drink) it’s necessary to be aware of how alcohol influences our organism. Drumbeaters can invent any legend about the good sides of it.

12. After taking alcohol, the of urinary excretion increases (diuresis), that is, the loss of urine and salts. After alcoholic intoxication people feel thirsty, they long for some mineral water.

13. If you make up your mind to alcohol withdrawal, then on the saved money one day you can buy a car. Imagine, what a great amount of money you spend on alcohol every month and every year.