Sad young man at table suffering from alcohol poisoning is disparate to quit.Many people still believe that alcohol poisoning is a myth created to keep people from becoming drunk or enjoying alcohol. But alcohol poisoning is real. Thousands of people die each year from alcohol overuse in America. Sadly, many of these are young people just starting their lives or those in their prime.

Alcohol Poisoning – What It Is and How It Happens

Simply put, alcohol poisoning is an overuse of alcohol to the point that the body starts to shut down. Drinking too much ethyl alcohol can affect your heart, body temperature and other vital systems. Coma and death are often the results of drinking far too much in a short period of time.

Binge drinking is often the cause of poisoning by alcohol. Binge drinking is an episode of consuming five or more alcoholic beverages within two hours for males, or four drinks for females within the same length of time. Some people who binge drink do so for several hours. Others continue for days.

Most people believe that if you drink to the point of poisoning yourself, you will pass out. But you can remain conscious long after your stomach contains enough alcohol to poison you. It takes time for your digestive tract to release consumed alcohol into your bloodstream. So many people are still conscious, aware and drinking more, despite already having reached poisonous levels in their body.

Alcohol is absorbed into your bloodstream much more quickly than nutrients from food. But alcohol takes much longer than food to be processed out of the body. The liver must work hard to process drinks you consume and cleanse your body of the chemicals and effects.

Statistics of Alcohol Overuse Don’t Lie

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tracked binge drinking and poisoning from alcohol in the U.S. for many years. Some of their findings published by the Alcohol Justice organization include the news that about six adults die each day from alcohol poisoning, most of these being aged 34 to 64.

Among employment-aged adults in the U.S., poisoning due to excessive drinking is the cause of one in ten deaths. About 88,000 people die from this cause each year, costing the economy $223 billion each year. One in six American adults engages in binge drinking, a common activity leading to poisoning.

How Alcohol Poisoning Kills

People who have been poisoned from alcohol can die an agonizing death. The body works hard to rebalance itself after too much alcohol has been consumed. Despite this hard work, tens of thousands of people still die as a result of alcohol overuse each year, not realizing that a rehab for alcohol addiction could have saved them.

Effects of alcohol overuse poisoning include:

  • Choking from vomiting at a time when alcohol has depressed the gag reflex.
  • Stopped breathing by inhaling vomit into the lungs, leading to asphyxiation.
  • Severe dehydration due to vomiting, causing a faster heartbeat and severely low blood pressure.
  • Seizures caused by intensely low blood sugar.
  • Hypothermia when body temperature drops low enough to cause cardiac arrest.
  • Irregular heartbeat and even stopped heart due to poisoning by alcohol.
  • Brain damage caused directly by the poisoning.
  • Death from any of the above issues or others of alcohol overconsumption.

Beaches Recovery Helps Patients Gain Recovery from Alcohol Addiction

Living in alcohol addiction is tragic. Too much of your life, happiness and wellness are lost to alcohol when you suffer from addiction. Beaches Recovery in Jacksonville, Florida understands your addiction and provides accredited rehab programs and addiction counseling therapies for overcoming alcohol addiction.

Call Beaches Recovery now at 8666050532 for more information about available programs and how to get started in lifesaving alcohol detox programs. Through comprehensive rehab, you can reclaim and rebuild your life. For a better future, make this important call today.