Cosmopolitan Magazine recently published an article titled “The Deadly Drinking Mistake Smart Girls Make.” After reading it, I was deeply disturbed about an increasing trend taking the lives of young women around America. Many people realize the dangers of drinking alcohol- car accidents, alcohol poisoning- but what many (including myself) did not realize is the danger of one’s blood alcohol content (BAC) becoming too high.
Cosmo opened the story with 19 year old Laura Treanor, a sophomore at the George Washington University in DC. Treanor went out with friends one night to celebrate Barack Obama becoming president, where she indulged in a few drinks. (The exact amount was not known.) Security cameras outside the campus residence hall shows Treanor searching for her keys just after 2 a.m. The next morning, Laura was found dead in her bed.
Amanda Jax was celebrating her 21st birthday. The Minnesota State student started by drinking beer at a friend’s apartment, then moved on to a bar. There, Jax indulged in an eye-popping number of drinks in a short period of time- more beer, a shot of whiskey, and shot of rum, three more shots of hard liquor, a shared pitcher of Long Island iced tea (which equal out to be 12 shots of booze) and a cherry bomb (cherry vodka mixed with an energy drink)- all under two hours.
Amanda Jax later passed out at a friend’s house, and was found dead in the morning.
Why did these two young girls die after a night of drinking? The reason many surprise you. Each girl was found with dangerously high blood alcohol content’s – Laura Treanor’s was at 0.29- more than three and a half times the legal limit for driving- and Amanda Jax’s was at a staggering 0.46- almost six times the legal driving limit. Both girls had something in common- neither were heavy drinkers. And you don’t need to be an experienced drinker to succumb to this deadly happening- it is actually usually the opposite. Inexperienced drinkers often do not realize the warning signs that the body is producing after consuming too much alcohol, so they do not know it is time to stop. What happens is that they will get acute blood alcohol poisoning- and that often leads to death. Too much alcohol in the blood can prompt a complete shutdown of the respiratory center in the lower brainstem (Cosmopolitan magazine, November, pg. 167).What happens next is that the person will slip into a coma and stop breathing. Once that happens, there is about six minutes before the lack of oxygen to the brain leads to the breakdown of the body systems and will cause permanent neurological damage. Soon after that, the heart stops, and death occurs.
Cosmopolitan Magazine listed many ways to make sure women are drinking safely. Share these with your friends to keep yourself and others safe when you go out.
For the lowest risk, try to keep your intake to no more than two drinks in once day and no more than seven over the course of the week.
If you plan to have more than one, nurse each 12 ounce beer, 5 ounce glass of wine, or 1.5 ounces of liquor in a cocktail for one hour.
Try alternating water, soda, or juice with alcoholic drinks to slow yourself down.
Water down mixed drinks with ice, and avoid shots- they are almost impossible to nurse.
Never drink on an empty stomach. Eat before you hit the bar to slow the rate at which alcohol passes into your bloodstream.
Visit Cosmopoliitan.com for more health tips and to read the full article.
November 30, 2009
