Alcohol Poisoning

Alcohol Poisoning Statistics

According to alcohol poisoning statistics poisoning from alcohol is diagnosed in approximately fifty thousand cases in the United States alone every year.

In the UK the number of under-eighteens admitted to hospital for alcohol poisoning has gone up by over 20% year on year for the past 8 years according to a BBC Panorama program, called “Booze: What Teenagers Need to Know”.

Apparently, 23 children are now diagnosed each day in the UK with alcohol poisoning. Hospital admissions went up from 6,288 in 2000 – 7,500 in 2005 – to over 8000 in 2008. Statistics may be misleading but as an indicator of a growth trend then this one is scary.

Panorama quoted an Ambulance operative saying that it is not uncommon to come across children who have downed a whole litre of vodka. Many in the National Health Service (NHS) say resources which should be used for treating other patients are being eaten up dealing with drunken children.

These recorded poisoning admissions could be lowered or even prevented if people better understood the symptoms of poisoning from drinking too much alcohol, and were more careful about their alcohol intake.

Alcohol Abuse Effects: Health Hazards

Poisoning occurs when a person’s blood alcohol content reaches a high level, and it causes the central nervous system to shut down.

There are many factors that contribute to a person’s blood alcohol level, including how quickly your body metabolizes the alcohol, how strong the drink is, how quickly it’s consumed, how much (or little) food is in the person’s stomach, and how much alcohol has already been consumed. Half of those with a blood concentration of 0.45% may die.

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  • Symptoms that could indicate alcohol poisoning include confusion, poor or no reflexes, unconsciousness, slow, shallow, or irregular breathing, difficulty waking the person, blue-tinged or pale skin, and seizures. The body gives warning signs that too much alcohol has been ingested before alcohol poisoning takes place, such as nausea and vomiting.
  • Binge drinkers are more likely to suffer from poisoning because they drink more than the average social drinker. According to alcohol poisoning statistics, approximately 2.6 million binge drinkers in the United States are between the ages of twelve and seventeen.
  • Teenagers and college students are more likely to binge drink because of irresponsibility and peer pressure. Younger drinkers may not be able to recognize the signals their bodies are sending when they’re drinking too much.

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If the statistic of 50,000 people in the US being diagnosed with alcohol poisoning each year is to be believed then this means that again statistically speaking, over 960 people a week are contracting alcohol poisoning – this is nuts!

Most of these recorded cases are the result of binge drinking, but alcoholics are also at risk from poisoning. Alcohol poisoning statistics don’t reveal how may deaths are associated with poisoning but we know that some deaths due to poisoning are misdiagnosed, there may be many more people who die than are reported.

One of the biggest problems with treating alcohol poisoning is that people don’t seek medical assistance right away, but think that the person is simply very drunk. Then, when medical assistance is called, it’s too late.

Again I’m sorry to bang on about this figure but it’s so important, alcohol poisoning statistics show fifty thousand people being poisoned in this way each year in the US alone. Over 8000 cases yearly in the UK.

Searching questions need to be asked, some of these cases could be prevented if people knew more about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of this condition. Education is the key to understanding and preventing this steady year on year rise that we are seeing.

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