Friday, February 19, 2016

How Many Drinks?



 How Many Drinks?

Drinking can be a very common activity among many people. Alcohol might not taste the greatest, but it sure can make a night to remember (or barely). However, sometimes people can overdo it, and drink way more than what's recommend. This can cause serious damage to the body, and even death. Dr. George Koob, director of the national institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism stated, "Zero-point-three percent to 0.4 percent, and you're in the danger zone. People have actually died at those blood levels" (Pearl, 2014). How much alcohol can a person drink before it kills them?
This can be very challenging to figure out since many people have different tolerances towards alcohol. A person's sex, weight, what he/she has been drinking, and for how long can be important variables for finding how much alcohol it takes to kill someone. A person's tolerance can also be a key variable that can affect the amount of alcohol needed. For example, the amount of alcohol that a heavy drinker might drink might leave someone in a coma, but it can also be a suicide attempt for others (Pearl, 2014).
John Bonham is famous for being the drummer of Led Zeppelin, and the way he died. He had a very good tolerance towards drinking alcohol. During 1980, he consumed 16 drinks for his breakfast, but that was just a pregame for someone used to drinking that amount (Pearl, 2014). Later that day Bonham died after consuming a total of 40 drinks, only to lie down and choke on his vomit. Mick Wall, a rock historian, believes, "The cues, the color of the bar, the smells, and all those things become linked to the development of tolerance. A lot of people don't realize that, but it's actually psych 101" (Pearl, 2014).
Drinking causes dopamine and other chemicals to be realized into the brain, which can feel really good. That stops after a while, and can cause a person to feel not that great. Just like an addict, many people believe if they keep on drinking it'll begin to feel nice again. So how much can a person drink before you reach the point of no return without being asked to blow into a breathalyzer? Dr. Koob thinks, "If you can remember a timeline to follow back and see how much you drank to get to the black out, that's a good way to [know] you've reached the limit" (Pearl, 2014). Someone should make sure the drinks are standard while they count them, which a standard drink contains 14 grams of pure alcohol. If this seems too dangerous, Dr. Koob gave a simple rule of thumb that can possibly kill an average size American, "Fifteen standard drinks in two hours" (Pearl, 2014). There are also many apps that can help a person figure out the answer. Just remember to drink responsibly.

References

Pearl, M. (2014, December 11). How Much Can You Drink Before It Will Kill You? Retrieved from Vice: http://www.vice.com/read/how-much-can-you-drink-before-it-will-kill-you-991

7 comments:

  1. Very nice blog! There was a lot of information that I read that I didn't know before reading. I think everybody can learn something from this and use it for their own health as well as sharing it to people they know and spreading awareness.

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  2. Your blog is very informal. I think you have a lot of information that i did not know, but us as college students do not realize what we do to our bodies after numerous nights of drinking. All college students show be aware and drink responsibly.

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  3. You are right about the taste and how it can make a night to remember or barely. Height and weight of the drinker matters a lot.The bigger they re the more they can consume. Drinking don't you think starts at a young age. Say teenage years. Drinking can cause serious brain damage and permanent memory loss. It is not something you should be happy about doing.

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  4. It's crazy the effects that alcohol has on our bodies. I think students want to be aware of the effects and how much they should really be consuming but it is unfortunate that people will continue to drink until they feel they've had enough.

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  5. I like how you mentioned the chemical effects alcohol has on your brain. I have worked with a couple people who have said they drink to feel happy or not to feel at all. This was a really informative post nice work`

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  6. I did not know 99% of these things. Your post is full of new things that are very important. Especially being in college we need to know these things.

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  7. I did not know 99% of these things. Your post is full of new things that are very important. Especially being in college we need to know these things.

    ReplyDelete