The culture of alcohol consumption in our country is not very high. According to statistics from drug treatment clinics, the age of patients is rapidly declining. If twenty years ago the second stage of alcoholism was diagnosed, as a rule, only in people over thirty years of age, today it is already observed in twenty-year-olds. Chronic alcohol intoxication is the inevitable companion of anyone who prefers to abuse alcohol. The health consequences of this condition are the development of fatal incurable diseases of internal organs (cirrhosis, fatty hepatosis, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer disease, cancer). For the psyche and nervous system, chronic alcohol intoxication is also not in vain: psychoses and delirium often develop.
Stages of alcoholism
Narcology is a branch of psychiatry that deals with the withdrawal from pathological conditions of drug addicts, poly-addicts and people with alcohol addiction. Chronic alcohol intoxication with multiple manifestations makes itself felt immediately. A person often has to literally force-feed the body with alcohol, overcoming the gag reflex and many acute periods of intoxication.
The first experience with drinking alcohol most often leaves a negative mark in memory: severe poisoning, vomiting after abuse. Only after that the society of "cultural use" does not leave the future patient of the narcologist alone: he drinks again and again - obtaining a certificate, diploma, then corporate parties and numerous birthdays, weddings ... As a result, a person does not notice how he begins to "relax" in alone with a bottle of your favorite strong drink.
Narcology distinguishes three stages of the development of alcoholism:
- The first stage is the most harmless. It does not require therapy and until it brings problems to the patient. From the side, the first stage looks like a relatively cultural use. A person does not yet suffer from memory lapses; he does not experience depression and aggression towards others and himself. The main criterion by which the first stage of alcoholism is diagnosed is an indispensable desire to get drunk and achieve through drinking fun and relaxation.
- The second stage is characterized by the appearance of memory dips. In medicine, this pathology is called "palimpsest" - a person in the morning can not remember what he did while intoxicated. The symptoms of alcohol intoxication are becoming commonplace. The patient most often rejects treatment: he does not consider himself sick and in every possible way resists the attempts of loved ones to alleviate his condition. In the middle of the second stage, the patient begins to drink in the morning to avoid a painful hangover.
- The third stage is characterized by a state of chronic alcohol intoxication. A person loses social status and appearance. As a rule, such an employee is no longer tolerated at work, and relatives refuse him. Many-day binges begin, which inevitably lead to irreversible damage to internal organs. Due to chronic alcohol intoxication, diseases develop: cirrhosis, ulcerative pathologies, pancreatitis, pancreatic necrosis, toxic hepatitis, liver fibrosis, diabetes mellitus, mental disorders.
Acute and chronic alcohol intoxication: symptoms
Treatment should always be carried out with the consent of the patient. It is important to understand: damage to internal organs is the consequences of a underlying disease, alcoholism. First of all, it is this disease that needs to be treated.
Depending on the nature of drunkenness and the stage of alcoholism, acute or chronic alcohol intoxication is distinguished. The first is characteristic of alcoholics at the initial stage. It is characterized by the following symptoms:
- nausea and vomiting (the body is thus trying to get rid of poisoning);
- severe headache;
- temperature increase by several degrees;
- due to the large load on the pancreas, pains may appear in the left side;
- diarrhea
- pain in the epigastric region.
Acute alcohol intoxication becomes chronic over time. An alcoholic in the first months after the start of the second stage, as a rule, begins to become sober. This leads to binges. Chronic alcohol intoxication leads to the development of incurable diseases of the internal organs.
Symptoms of intoxication of this type:
- low working capacity;
- inability to concentrate;
- delayed reaction;
- inappropriate behavior and sleep problems (since the nervous system is affected by ethyl alcohol);
- frequent severe pain in the left side;
- there is almost no nausea and vomiting, but in the mornings a belching of bile and sucrose may occur;
- frequent and severe pain in the epigastric region.
The exit from hard drinking is often accompanied by delirium. This condition requires urgent medical intervention and hospitalization in a hospital, otherwise the patient may injure himself or others. With the help of special medicines, tranquilizers and antipsychotic drugs, delirium can almost always be avoided.
Which doctor should I contact and is it possible to take sick leave
After poisoning with ethyl alcohol, a person is not able to fulfill his duties qualitatively. The opportunity to take sick leave is provided, since chronic alcohol intoxication (ICD code 10 - F10.2.4.3) makes the work process impossible. Especially if the patient is expected to show a reaction rate or work requires cognitive effort. Hard physical labor is also prohibited: it can trigger a heart attack.
The sick leave will indicate that the reason for not appearing at work is chronic alcohol intoxication, ICD code 10 - F10.2.4.3. Some employers, having seen such a diagnosis, will soon try to part with an employee for one reason or another. In addition, the receipt of such a certificate indicates registration with the IPA. In the future, this fact may prevent obtaining a driver’s license or the ability to store and use weapons.
If the patient has a psychotic state or delirium, then the certificate will indicate - chronic alcohol intoxication, the ICD marks delirium under the code F10.4. Moreover, the fact of a psychotic state will not be reflected in the sick leave.
Chronic alcohol intoxication (ICD 10 marks it with the code F10.2.4) is an occasion to consult a narcologist or psychiatrist. It is these doctors who are involved in the treatment of alcoholism. The consequences (diseases of the liver, gastrointestinal tract, neurological problems) are treated by doctors of the necessary specialization, depending on their profile. A gastroenterologist, neurologist or therapist will prescribe the necessary medications after tests and additional examinations.
The effects of intoxication on the liver
A well-known fact: the liver takes on the neutralization of the toxic effects of ethyl alcohol on the body. As a result, organ cells suffer, fatty degeneration of the liver begins. Over time, if a person does not stop the libation, fibrosis develops, toxic hepatitis, and several years later, cirrhosis.
Cirrhosis, in turn, will inevitably lead to death. Having received this diagnosis, many alcoholics finally begin to seriously engage in their health and refuse to voluntarily inject poison into their bodies.
Treatment of the liver after alcohol intoxication
Modern pharmacology offers a wide range of drugs that can stop or reverse the process of fatty degeneration of the liver. Such medicines are called hepatoprotectors. For the treatment of alcohol intoxication at home, you can choose your own medicine to maintain liver function. But it is better to undergo an ultrasound and determine exactly what condition the liver is in. After that, the doctor will prescribe the drug that will show the greatest effectiveness for a particular patient.
List of the most popular hepatoprotectors:
- "Ursosan" - will help establish the outflow of bile;
- "Heptral" - the most advanced drug for the restoration of liver cells in chronic alcohol intoxication syndrome;
- "Karsil" contains silymarin - a substance that effectively restores liver cells with minor damage;
- "Essential" contains essential phospholipids, normalizes fat metabolism and is used both for prevention and for the treatment of existing liver diseases.
Impaired renal and bladder function due to intoxication
The urinary system is most affected by alcoholic beer. There is an opinion that you can sleep with only strong drinks. In fact, beer alcoholics can consume about six to seven liters of beer per evening, which is equivalent to 0.5 liters of vodka.
If you drink so much beer every evening, then a chronic inflammatory process in the kidneys begins to develop very quickly. This is pyelonephritis, which can be asymptomatic for quite some time. Chronic alcohol intoxication is not manifested by pain in the kidneys, since this organ simply does not have nerve endings. Most often, pyelonephritis or renal failure is a "surprise" for a person with alcohol dependence. Meanwhile, these are very serious diseases that indicate partial or complete impaired renal function. Renal failure requires regular visits to the hemodialysis procedure or organ transplant surgery from a donor.
The effects of intoxication on pancreatic function
The pancreas is also exposed to the toxic effects of ethanol in chronic alcohol intoxication. The standards of therapeutic medicine do not provide for the possibility of restoration of this organ. If the pancreas completely loses its functions, they are resected, that is, complete or partial removal. As a rule, patients after such an operation do not live long, especially if they continue to abuse alcohol.
In almost all people with alcohol dependence, pancreatitis is diagnosed in the second stage. This is an inflammation of the cells of the pancreas, which is accompanied by severe pain in the left hypochondrium and indigestion. Over time, the disease progresses to pancreatic necrosis, in which the organ gradually completely loses its functions.
How does the psyche and nervous system respond to alcohol poisoning
People without a medical education believe that alcohol harms directly internal organs. Narcologists say the opposite: the nervous system and psyche often receive even more damage. A single case of alcohol abuse leads to multiple death of neurons, making a person irritated, aggressive, inflated, disabling his psyche.
There is no liquor that is not poison to the nervous system. And craft beer, and expensive noble wines, and long-term quality cognacs can be gentle for the liver, but any drink has the same destructive effect on the psyche.
The development of delirium and first aid to the patient
If a person suffering from binges is forced to abruptly abandon alcohol, he has mental problems. The most serious complication is delirium. This is a consequence of chronic alcohol intoxication, which can be more or less pronounced depending on the stage:
- The first stage is insomnia, which is accompanied by auditory hallucinations. The patient hears songs, the sound of a TV or radio. Often he imagines a voice that threatens to harm him or his loved ones.
- A more serious stage is accompanied by dim visual hallucinations. It seems to a person as if insects are crawling around the room or animals are running.
- The third stage is characterized by persistent visual hallucinations, almost always of an aggressive kind. It seems to the patient that the people around him are monsters who are eager to kill him. He shows aggression, maybe, unwittingly, to injure himself or his relatives.
To prevent trouble, an ambulance team should be called at the first symptoms of a psychotic state and the appearance of hallucinations. They will redirect the patient to a hospital in a psychiatric hospital. The patient will be assisted by the administration of potent tranquilizers - he will fall asleep, and the appearance of hallucinations and acute delirium can be avoided.
Can alcoholism be cured? Ways to solve the problem
Narcology recognizes alcoholism as an incurable disease. If tolerance to a certain amount of a drink with ethyl alcohol in the composition has formed, then it will not go anywhere. You can achieve complete remission - you can do this only by completely abandoning the use of even a minimal amount of alcohol.
Narcologists confirm that it is impossible to "cure" alcoholism in the usual meaning of the word. Remission (that is, a complete voluntary refusal of alcohol) can last for years. But even if a decade later a person starts drinking again, he will almost instantly return to his previous doses, and he will overtake chronic alcohol intoxication.
There are several ways to solve the problem:
- attending psychotherapy sessions, and they should be carried out by a specialist in working with people of the addictive personality warehouse;
- coding;
- attending meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous;
- own decision to achieve remission (not every person can do it).
Coding Effectiveness in Alcoholism
Coding is carried out using the Esperal ampoule or another drug, which includes disulfiram. The doctor makes an incision in the muscle and secures an ampoule with the drug in it. Then, stitches are applied to the incision.
After the coding procedure, a person will not be able to drink even a small amount of alcohol. Disulfiram, getting into the blood from a sewn-in ampoule, reacts with ethanol. As a result, a person may begin to suffocate, his blood pressure rises, and his life threatens. The patient is faced with a choice: either drink or die.