Tag Archives: alcohol

Hangover Movie: Get Him to the Greek

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Hangover Movie: Get Him to the Greek

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Russell Brand plays Aldous Snow (his character from Forgetting Sarah Marshall) a British rock star that has struggled with addiction. In the opening scenes, Aldous Snow goes from the recovered drug addict we knew in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, relapses on drugs and alcohol, and his fame takes a nose dive.

Jonah Hill plays Aaron Green, a talent scout working at an LA record company who is a big fan of Aldous Snow and his band, Infant Sorrow. He pitches the idea of an anniversary concert, the record company agrees, and he’s off to bring Aldous Snow from London to the Greek Theatre in LA. Sounds simple, right? Not when you’re dealing with a drug addict who only cares about the next high. Hilarity ensues as Aldous and Aaron get themselves into a number of ridiculous situations-Aldous looking for the next party, and Aaron trying to keep them on schedule.

I expected this movie to be funny, and it was, but it also had a legitimate emotional side that I didn’t expect. Russell Brand, a recovering drug addict himself, gives one of the most accurate portrayals of the debauchery and heartache of addiction I have ever seen.  A definite must see.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Drinking Alcohol Has It’s Benefits

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Benefits of Drinking Alcohol
Benefits of Drinking Alcohol

Drink alcohol, it’s good for you! In moderation, that is. Drinking alcohol in moderation could have its benefits, depending on your age and sex.

Over the last five years, the health benefits of moderate drinking have been widely seen in the headlines. To those who think everything enjoyable must be bad for you, this news comes as a green light to go ahead and drink up. Of course, there are many stipulations – and these studies don’t indicate that people who are sober should take up drinking or that infrequent drinkers should start drinking more. The important word here is drinking in moderation.

Do we know why moderate drinking lowers heart disease risk? A lot of the benefits of alcohol are on the blood vessels and on blockages in the arteries to the heart and to the brain. This might be related to alcohol’s effect on the good cholesterol, the HDL cholesterol. In fact, alcohol affects HDL levels just about as strongly as any other lifestyle factor. People also think that alcohol may lower heart attack risk by acting as a blood thinner.
What are some of the other health benefits associated with moderate drinking? A wide variety of health effects have been attributed to moderate drinking. A lower risk of diabetes has been seen in women and men.

Studies show, for example, that health benefits only come with moderate drinking and are greatest for older men. And even moderate drinking is not recommended for women who are pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant, or for people who are under 21. The strongest medical evidence exists for the link between moderate drinking and a reduced risk of heart disease.

Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, an intern at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston, was the lead author of a New England Journal of Medicine study examining the roles of drinking patterns and heart disease that found, after 12 years of follow-up, men who consumed alcohol between three and seven days a week had fewer heart attacks than men who drank once a week.

There actually have been experiments done in which alcohol was administered over a couple of months to people without diabetes. In those studies, most of which have been conducted in women, it looks like moderate drinking improves the body’s sensitivity to insulin. It may actually lower insulin levels altogether and may prevent diabetes through that mechanism. More recently there has been some work on moderate drinking and dementia. When looking at a group of older adults in the United States with an average age in the mid-70s – they found a reduced risk. There has been some more work in slightly younger populations from Europe, and those studies have fairly consistently suggested that older adults who were drinking moderately may have a lower risk of dementia. Although they are not exactly sure what the mechanisms may be behind that.

Some of it may very well be because drinking tends to occur in social settings and just the process of getting out and socializing may be an important way to prevent dementia. There is also evidence that moderate drinking may prevent silent strokes or other subtle types of brain injury that can, over time predispose someone to dementia. This is definitely an area that still needs to be investigated further.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Alcohol Withdrawal Symptoms

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alcohol withdrawal symptoms

By Rhea Rosier

Are you experiencing multiple hangovers? Do you drink frequently? When you stop to drink do you begin to feel worse not better? If you answered yes to any of these you may want to read on.

The definition of withdrawal is any type of separation or retraction. This case being in reference to alcohol withdrawal symptoms; it is the removal or separation of alcohol from a person’s body and mind. Alcohol is a physically addictive substance because of the way it changes the brain chemistry. Ethanol is the active ingredient in alcohol. Alcohol when ingested and then broken down in the body is the chemical ethanol which is extremely dangerous. When a person drinks alcohol it is absorbed through the stomach into the bloodstream where it then goes to the brain, and starts to release feelings of comfort, warmth and relaxation.

A sustained use of alcohol causes the body to adapt to the changes in brain chemistry and that can lessen the original effects of drinking. This is known as building a tolerance. Once the body adapts and begins to build a tolerance the person drinking begins to need to consume more, in order to achieve the desired effect; meaning the drinker can or has developed an alcohol dependence which if at any point they decide they want to stop drinking, will result in alcohol withdrawal symptoms. Usually if an alcoholic’s drinking has gotten to this point they are no longer drinking because they want to but because they have to.

There are different stages of alcohol withdrawal. Generally, when withdrawing, a person will start to feel worse and worse, hit a plateau, and then the symptoms begin to dissipate. However, alcohol withdrawal symptoms usually worsen and can end up being fatal. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can become so painful and uncomfortable that drinking again seems to be the better option rather than continuing to try and stop. This kind of behavior and these symptoms are usually seen in someone with alcoholic tendencies. If the person has alcoholic tendencies or any alcohol withdrawal symptoms a medical detox followed by alcohol treatment is most likely needed because these symptoms can be life threatening or even deadly in some cases.

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can begin to occur up to 5-10 hours after the last drink. The alcohol withdrawal symptoms are psychological as well as physiological and can last weeks. Even, months later someone with alcoholism may have symptoms of post-acute withdrawal and this is why detox and probably a more long term or residential treatment are necessary and vital to sustain abstinence from drinking.

The most common alcohol withdrawal symptoms are:                  

  • Nausea
  • Depression
  • Inability to think clearly
  • Fatigue
  • Irritability
  • Mood Swings
  • Nightmares and Insomnia
  • Heart Palpitations
  • Sweating or Clammy Skin
  • Cold and Hot Chills
  • Jumpiness
  • Loss of appetite
  • Seizures
  • Delirium Tremors (DT’s)

Delirium tremors and seizures due to alcohol withdrawal can be fatal. These alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be very frightening and without a medical detox can be very unsafe. This is why a medical detox is almost always necessary. These alcohol withdrawal symptoms can vary in severity depending on age, gender, and how long it has been since the last drink or how much the person has been drinking. If at any time you or someone you know is experiencing these alcohol withdrawal symptoms, remember they can be fatal.  It is recommended you seek medical detox immediately if you or someone you know is showing any of these alcohol withdrawal symptoms.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Can You Die From A Hangover?

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Can you die from a hangover? First let’s discuss what a hangover is. The medical term for a hangover is veisalgia. A hangover is the unpleasant effects from alcohol withdrawal. Alcohol’s main ingredient is Ethanol and ethanol has a dehydrating effect that causes increased urine production, headaches, dry mouth and lethargy. Alcohol affects the brain and stomach so headaches and nausea are very common hangover symptoms.

Now, back to the original question at hand. Can you die from a hangover?

The symptoms themselves if severe enough can cause death. For example, in extreme cases dehydration can cause death. It’s also true that symptoms of a hangover can occur during alcoholic intoxication and after. If someone consumes enough alcohol to overdose then they could experience a hangover throughout their intoxication. So technically, a hangover can cause death but it might be a contributing factor more than the actual cause of death. Most of the effects of a hangover are headaches, dehydration, dry mouth, involuntary vomiting (which could be a sign of alcohol poisoning), increased body temperature and urges to use the bathroom. These symptoms alone aren’t great enough to cause death but mix in previous health issues, mixing of different alcoholic beverages, drugs, and you’ve got yourself an overdose of sorts. The severity of the hangover depends on how much alcohol a person has consumed, their height, weight, sex and overall tolerance. Some people can have 13 drinks in an 8-hour time span and wake up without a hangover while another person can have 4 drinks in an 8-hour time span and wake up with a horrible headache and diarrhea. So can you really die from a hangover? Yes and no. Like I said before a hangover occurs during and after intoxication and if you overdose then the symptoms like high fever and the amount of alcohol you consumed could have contributed to your death.

Although hangover remedies vary depending on whom you ask it’s best to rehydrate, fuel up on electrolytes, and get some food into your stomach. If you’re feeling so sick after a night of drinking that you feel like you’re dying or are asking, “Can you die from a hangover” seek medical attention as you might have alcohol poisoning or something more severe. We are all unique in body type, tolerance, and health history so do not If you are experiencing a hangover and feel like you’re dying call 911 immediately. If your hangover symptoms become severe and more than your normal dry mouth, headache, dehydration and other common hangover symptoms then call 911.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

Prohibition Era

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Prohibition in the United States [1913 – 1933], also known as the “Prohibition Era” was the national ban on the sale, manufacturing and transportation of alcohol. [Wikipedia, 2012] This prohibition era led to rebellion, which resulted in underground criminal organizations, i.e. the American Mafia, corrupt politicians and police officers.

The prohibition era set precedence for the amount of consumption of alcohol and smuggling of illegal substances in America. Most people didn’t appreciate the prohibition of alcohol and continued to attend the thousands of bars that sold alcohol illegally. Speakeasy’s like Bill’s Gay Nineties were raided quite often and even went as far as to install secret levers at the bar that would shoot the bottles of liquor down into the basement into a pit filled with sand so that the glass would not break. Inventive stuff!  Due to the overall sentiment against prohibition, police officials had a very hard time enforcing the law. From its very inception, the law lacked legitimacy in the eyes of the public who had previously been drinkers and yet completely law-abiding citizens.

Although the prohibition era was an important part of alcohol’s history in America it was far from the first time it became a hot topic.  The prohibition era was one of the victories from many years of efforts against the consumption of alcohol that branched from the American Temperance Society. (ATS). ATS was founded in 1826 with a platform on temperance (the social movement urging the reduced use of alcohol) and also supported the abolition of slavery and expansion of women’s rights.

The marketing and sale of alcohol today in America is a billion dollar industry that doesn’t do half as much as it should to warm against the health effects alcohol has on the human body or the long-term consequences of drinking. The prohibition era was not successful but most “bans” or  “eradications” hardly go over smoothly. People are afraid of change and get stuck in their ways very quickly.  People will naturally rebel and as we know criminal activity thrives off of illegality.  Alcohol can be and is extremely dangerous and the prohibition era tried to stifle these dangers with a complete ban of alcohol which was not the right way to go about the issue of consumption and resulted in more problems than it helped. Regardless the prohibition era does not mean that alcohol is NOT dangerous.

Underage drinking, DUI, and alcohol related deaths are all topping the charts and have caused a lot of needless deaths throughout the United States. Alcohol is a drug and should not be abused. The prohibition era attempted to crack down on the use of alcohol completely but in today’s society it’s our duty to promote the safe consumption of alcohol, which includes not drinking alcohol at all, and drinking within the legal limits.

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.

New Hangover Cures Flood the Market

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New Hangover Cures Flood the Market

By Jenny Hunt

February 10, 2012

Have a little too much to drink last night? You aren’t alone. “How to cure a hangover” is one of the most Googled phrases of 2012. Recently, some smart product developers have stepped in and created products to meet that demand. Since this past New Years, the market has been flooded with products that are said to either cure or prevent a hangover.

1)      Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy Patch: This product was developed by Alex Fleyshmakher after a night of hard partying and the subsequent hangover landed him in a doctor’s office. The Bytox patch is meant to be applied 45 minutes before you start drinking and worn for 8 hours after you stop. The patch contains several types of B vitamins, açaí berry, vitamins A, D, E and K, and folic and pantothenic acids. It is meant to replenish the vitamins and minerals that you lose while drinking.

2)      Blowfish Tablets: This product combines aspirin, caffeine and an antacid into an Alka-Seltzer-like effervescent tablet. A two-tablet dose of Blowfish (which is what the makers recommend for a typical hangover) contains 1,000 milligrams of aspirin and 120 milligrams of caffeine, which is equivalent of two extra strength aspirin and three shots of espresso. Blowfish was developed to fight the most common symptoms of a hangover: headache, fatigue, and upset stomach. Many hangover cure seekers wish to get these cures delivered to the office or other places where discretion is important. Responding to this demand, Blowfish Tablets are packaged in plain manila envelopes.

3)      B.cuz You Like to Party Vitamins: A new vitamin brand, b.cuz, plans to release these vitamins in February or March, just in time for spring break. The company’s founder says the vitamins will contain vitamins B and C, magnesium, and cysteine to replenish the vitamins lost during drinking.

4)      Mercy Soda: This product gained popularity when it was Gwyneth Paltrow told news reporters that she swears by it. Mercy soda is marketed as a hangover prevention product, not a hangover remedy. The best time to drink this hangover cure is while or shortly after drinking.  Makers of Mercy Soda even suggest that you mix it with your alcohol to make a cocktail. Mercy Soda is said to flush your system of acetaldehyde, the chemical that causes a hangover. It contains amino acids, antioxidants and vitamins

The effectiveness of these hangover cures has yet to be tested. Indeed, hangover cures are nothing new. There have always been pills and powders on the market that claim to cure or prevent hangovers.  No matter which hangover cure you choose to try, it is likely that not much will help you if you drink a lot. Indeed most medical experts agree that time is the only surefire way to cure a hangover.  However, there are ways to make your hangover more comfortable. Hot baths, lots of water, over the counter painkillers, caffeine are just a few ways you can treat the uncomfortable symptoms of a hangove

If you need help with your addiction give us a call now at 1-800-984-4003.