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Hangovers
University
of Michigan Health System RNS, Hangovers, Dec. 2002
Full press release at the following URL:
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2002/hangover.htm
'Tis the season to
drink responsibly
(Download audio
version)
Suggested
Lead: It is estimated that one in every four patients treated
in some emergency departments is treated for reasons related to
alcohol intoxication or the consequences of heavy drinking. So before
you toast the holiday season with a few glasses of champagne or
some eggnog, it's important to know that the consequences of drinking
too much may be more serious than the symptoms of a hangover the
next morning. Here's Andi McDonnell with more.
TRT 2:16
SOQ
Since alcohol
affects the brain and central nervous system, it often impairs people's
ability to function while giving them a feeling of self-confidence
or denial that they are being adversely affected by alcohol. Alcohol
kills brain cells and causes memory loss, emotional disturbances,
loss of coordination and brain damage. Long-term alcohol abuse may
result in liver cirrhosis and cancers of the throat, mouth, esophagus,
stomach and liver.
Although alcohol
is the United States' number one drug problem, recognizing that
a person has become dependent on alcohol may be difficult. Even
those people who just drink on the weekends may be at risk for becoming
dependent on alcohol.
Dr. Brian Zink,
(M.D.), an emergency physician in the U-M Health System Emergency
Department explains . . .
"Alcohol
dependence is a fairly complex process where the brain adapts
to the effect of alcohol so that more and more alcohol is required
to produce the same effects, the same level of intoxication. So
the person who is seeking that feeling, that may be relief from
their problems that they will get with drinking alcohol, will
have to drink more and more alcohol to get to that state, and
that's called tolerance to alcohol effects."
Consuming large
amounts of alcohol depresses the brain, which reduces
brain cell activity over time. Then, when the brain is deprived
of alcohol, it becomes overactive and irritable. Alcohol withdrawal
symptoms are the hallmark of dependence on alcohol. Common withdrawal
symptoms include headaches, restlessness, vomiting, shaking and
nausea, Zink says.
" In
some people, a hangover may be the result of alcohol withdrawal,
that it actually may indicate that the person has some dependence
on alcohol and then when they wake up in the morning and don't
have alcohol in their system that the hangover irritability and
those types of symptoms may actually be the initial signs of dependent
drinking and problem drinking."
Zink says a
red flag should go up for anyone who drinks alcohol to cure a hangover.
If a person is at that point, then he or she needs to seek professional
help.
Andi McDonnell,
U-M Health System News
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