Winter Maladies: Natural Approaches
June Russell's Health Facts
The Effects of One Alcoholic Drink
[Impairment] [Impairment Physiology] [Immediate Effects] [Light Drinking] [Dosage] [Individual Sensitivity] [Drug Interactions] [Allergies] [Hearing Loss]
When Impairment Begins
Impairment in performance begins at below 0.02% BAC (1 to 1-1/2 drinks can result in this level).
{NIAAA - Alcohol Problems and Aging: 1998 U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services.
At low doses the effects of alcohol may include alterations in mood, cognition, anxiety level, and motor performance. It may also impair performance several hours after the blood alcohol level has gone down. Even slightly elevated levels result in more fatal accidents, and the majority of individuals who experience a problem related to alcohol use are light and moderate drinkers.
{Department of Health and Human Services in their reports to Congress 1990 and 1993}
One to two drinks of alcohol impair mental and physical abilities; mental processes such as restraint, awareness, concentration and judgment are affected, reaction time slowed, and an inability to perform complicated tasks.
{“The Effects of Alcohol and Other Drugs,” Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Irvine, CA, 1991}
Any blood alcohol level, even a BAC of 0.02%, the result of just one drink, increases the risk of a crash. Alcohol impairs nearly every aspect of the brain’s ability to process information, as well as the eye’s ability to focus and react to light.
{University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter, Jan. 1998}
Physiology of Impairment
Alcohol ingested in any quantity reduces cardiac output and destroys a vital enzyme necessary for muscle contraction.
{in the book, “Guidelines to Safe Drinking,” Nicholas Pace, M.D., an expert on the effects of alcohol, 1984}
An alcoholic drink, which must be detoxified by the body, makes extra demands on the immune system.
{in the book, “Beyond Antibiotics,” by Michael Schmidt, 1994} Editor's comment: A couple of drinks can affect the immune system for up to four days, according to Jean Kinney, in her book, “Understanding Alcohol,” 1992.
Overwhelming evidence has proved that alcohol itself is toxic to the liver, even when nutrition is adequate. Acetaldehyde, the primary metabolic product of alcohol in the liver, appears to be the key generator of free radicals.
{“Alcohol and the Liver,” Alcohol Alert, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Jan. 1993}
When you consume alcohol, the body immediately begins to break it down. In the process, breakdown products called ethyl esters speed the movement of positively charged potassium ions from brain cells through the outer membranes, creating a negative charge within the cell. This impairs calcium channels - a bad thing since the brain cells rely on calcium to communicate with other cells throughout the body. When calcium concentrations decrease, so does brain cell communication, resulting in the behaviors we recognize as intoxication. It slurs speech, decreases your cognitive ability, and even relaxes inhibitions by breaking down inhibitory pathways, which then leads to inappropriate behavior.
{Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dec. 20, 1996}
An alcoholic drink can irritate or dull the nerves to the bladder.
{National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Pamphlet, Jan. 1997}
The activity of a particular subtype of a glutamate receptor, called the NMDA receptor, known to be critical for the memory deficits that people experience after drinking, is very powerfully inhibited by alcohol - even in very low doses. While that drink will promote relaxation it will compromise learning and memory. Studies indicate that certain parts of the brain are more vulnerable to the damage done by alcohol, such as the cortex, which endows us with consciousness and controls most of our mental functions.
{in the book “Buzzed,” Cynthia Kuhn, 1998}
In general, sedation, muscle relaxation, and lowered inhibitions accompany low-dose use. The neurotransmitter GABA is most affected by alcohol use.
{AlcoholMD.com - May 2001}
The blocking of inhibitions is caused by alcohol's action on the higher centers of the brain's cortex, particularly the part of the brain that controls reason and judgment. It then acts on the lower centers of the limbic system that rule mood and emotion, and even at low-to-medium doses can increase self-confidence, sociability, and sexual desire, but can also result in aggression, violence and sexual assault. This disinhibition is mostly due to the interference with GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter.
{Alcoholmd.com - October 2001}
--- Effect on Hormone Levels ---
Just a half-a-glass of wine almost doubles the level of estrogen in women on ERT.
{"Estrogen and Alcohol Don't Mix,” Optimum Wellness newsletter, Winter 1997}
Beer: for those with prostate enlargement, avoid beer, which increases prolactin, a hormone that indirectly increases the production of dihydrotestosterone, another hormone that causes prostate cells to multiply excessively. This cell multiplication is thought to be the underlying cause of prostate enlargement.
{Robert Ivker, M.D., in “Men’s Health,” Natural Health magazine, Apr. 1999}
Some Immediate Effects
The effect of just one alcoholic drink on a person who is sleep deprived would be the same as six drinks by a person who has had enough sleep, says Dr. James Maas, professor at Cornell University and internationally recognized as an expert on the psychophysiology on sleep.
{Let’s Live magazine, Sep. 1992}
There is a striking increase in joint pain following alcohol consumption.
{“Contemporary Drug Problems,” by Mary Dufour, M.D., 1994}
Alcohol relaxes or weakens the sphincter muscle above the stomach, allowing juices to flow upward and burn the esophagus. This is why heartburn sufferers are told to avoid alcohol.
{University of California at Berkeley Wellness Letter, Oct. 1997}
Alcohol consumed just before bedtime or during the night may lead to unsteadiness during nighttime trips to the bathroom, with increased risk of falls and associated injuries. Alcohol use also may affect the likelihood of having periodic leg movements when asleep, which may or may not disturb sleep. The use of alcohol increases the risk of causing a crash. Impairment in performance begins at levels lower than 0.02% BAC, and it not only appears to have an even greater impairment for older persons, but they are also more vulnerable to injury.
A February 1999 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that, compared with juice or water, having one alcoholic drink before a meal led to eating 200 extra calories, on top of the extra calories in the drink itself. Subjects ate faster, took longer to feel full, and continued eating even after they were no longer hungry.
{‘ Drink Less, Eat Less,’ Prevention magazine, Jan. 2001}
Even a small amount of alcohol can affect your balance and reflexes.
{National Institute on Aging - 2003}
Light Drinking
Alcohol, even in small amounts, when mixed with medications has the potential to cause problems. Also, a chemical in some beers and wine, interacts with some anti-depressants and produce a dangerous rise in blood pressure.
{Alcohol Alert, NIAAA, 1995}
Light drinking can be harmful, say researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Death rates for young adults and middle-aged women increased with the amount of alcohol consumed, even as little as one drink per week. This study in the July 27, 2002 British Medical Journal stated that the amount of alcohol that was associated with the lowest death rates was no alcohol for women under 35.
{"Even light drinking can be harmful," Food and Fitness Advisor, The Center for Women's Healthcare, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, October 2002}
Even one beer (or one drink) can slow your reactions and confuse your thinking. This means anything that requires concentration and coordination - like driving - is more dangerous when you’ve had a drink. Drinking is a problem if it interferes with how you think or feel.
{familydoctor.org - May 2003}
New research shows it is the light or light-to-moderate drinkers who cause the most problems. More than half of all alcohol-related problems in the workplace are caused by light drinkers and 87% by light-to-moderate drinkers.
{“Hangovers - A Pain in the Workplace,” alcoholism.about.com - Sept. 2003}
Dose-related Effects of Alcohol
“In general, it looks like the less alcohol we drink, the better off we are,” says
Don Nelson, Pharm. D., Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Cell Biophysics at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, a researcher of the biological effects of alcohol. “In any quantity, alcohol kills cells in every organ in the body.”
{“Why Drinking and Living Longer Don't Mix.” Longevity magazine, Jan. 1994}
Individual and Age-related Sensitivity to Alcohol
People metabolize alcohol differently at different times of the day.
{in the book, “How Much is Too Much?” by Leonard Gross, 1983}
Some people are more vulnerable to the immediate effects of alcohol depending on size, gender, age, genetics, the type of alcoholic drink, and whether or not alcohol is taken with a meal.
{www.alcoholconcern.org - May 2001}
Researchers found that some alcohol consumption among the elderly may lessen age-related brain injuries, such as silent stroke (a stroke in which the effects are too subtle to be noticed when they occurred) and white matter disease, but that any level of alcohol intake may shrink brain matter. Every drink of alcohol is associated with greater brain shrinkage (atrophy).
{"Stroke," Journal of the American Heart Association, www.docguide.com - Dec. 2001}
Drug Interactions
The FDA ruled that all products containing aspirin and other salicylate drugs; acetaminophen, ibuprofen, naproxen sodium or ketoprofen, should carry warning labels that alert alcohol users of the risk of liver damage or stomach bleeding from combining any of these drugs with alcohol. The research that wine is good for you fails to include the fact that many, if not most, Americans regularly consume over-the-counter pain medications, says J. Mercola, D.O.
{VitalCast.com - Feb. 20, 2000}
Effect on Allergies and Allergic Individuals
Nearly two million people are allergic to the ingredients in certain alcoholic beverages, and the use of alcohol can lower a person’s threshold so an allergy can become more serious.
{in the book, “You are What you Drink,” Luks and Barbato, 1989}
Avoid alcohol during the allergy season. The worst drink you could possibly have? Red wine, because it actually stimulates histamine. Alcohol can escalate symptoms because it can dilate blood vessels, including those in your nose, causing the nasal passages to swell.
{Seasonal Allergy Update, by Hoecht Marion Roussel advertisement, makers of Allegra, 1996}
Noise-induced Hearing Loss
The use of alcohol causes vasodilation and actually makes you more sensitized to noise-induced hearing loss and once your hearing is gone...it’s gone! There are 28 million people with significant hearing loss, one-third of these from noise-induced hearing loss.
{Dr, Harold Pillsbury, Professor of Surgery and Otolaryngology at the University of NC School of Medicine}