Prescription Drugs and Alcohol
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Prescription drugs and alcohol use can cause unexpected, even fatal results. Accidents, seizures, blackouts, and hemorrhaging may occur due to the use of prescription drugs and alcohol, accounting for 25% of all emergency room admissions. You should always consult your doctor before using alcohol in combination with prescription drugs. Prescription drugs and alcohol use can cause unexpected, even fatal results. Accidents, seizures, blackouts, and hemorrhaging may occur due to the use of prescription drugs and alcohol, accounting for 25% of all emergency room admissions. You should always consult your doctor before using alcohol in combination with prescription drugs.
The Statistical Reality of Mixing Drug and Drink
14 Billion prescriptions are written annually; According to statistics, 70% of the American adult population consumes alcohol; 10% drink daily and about 60% of men and 30% of women have been affected negatively when consuming alcohol while taking prescription drugs. The elderly in particular, who consume 25 – 30% of all prescription drugs, may be especially at risk. Many elderly, due to age-related factors, take multiple prescription drugs.
Harmful Interactions Between Drugs and Alcohol
Due to changes in physiognomy, the effects of prescription drugs mingled with even small amounts of alcohol can be severe. Though everyone's metabolism is different, and responses to prescription drugs unique, the pairing of alcohol with prescription drugs can be highly toxic to the liver and other organs; sometimes lethal. The effectiveness of antibiotics and anti-coagulants can be greatly reduced or made negligible when taken concurrently with alcohol. Anti-depressants, one of the most widely used prescription drugs, can slow down the nervous system when combined with alcohol, cause loss of coordination, result in overdose, brain coma and even death.
Alcohol is not a stimulant as many believe. It is a depressant, just like tranquilizers and sleeping pills. Alcohol slows down body functions, including breathing and heart rate. Alcohol competes for the same enzymes in the liver that the body uses to break down and eliminate other depressants. Drinking alcohol while on prescribed depressants can decrease bodily functions to a dangerous level. The liver can become overloaded, at which point drug molecules are reabsorbed and circulated throughout the body. This results in what scientists calls “Synergism,” which means that the poisonous effects of alcohol are increased exponentially when mixed with prescription drugs.
The Ramifications of Harmful Mixing
Alcohol is a drug, and like all drugs, there are side effects. Mixing alcohol with prescription drugs presents risks to every organ of the body, including the brain. Muscles may suffer damage, the heart can experience palpitations or stoppage; dehydration can affect many organs; judgment can easily be impaired. Government reports rank alcohol combined with prescription drugs as the leading cause of drug-related deaths in the United States. It is important to check with your doctor or pharmacist regarding the effects of drinking alcohol while taking a prescription drug. If you are unsure about interactions between your prescription drugs and alcohol, refrain from alcohol use completely.
References:
http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/publications/factsheets/dangerouscombos
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa27.htm
http://www.doitnow.org/pages/121.html
