Our body is individual and reacts differently to the intake of various substances. Quite often people have food or drug intolerance, and some people have this condition on alcohol.
Alcohol intolerance
Alcohol intolerance is a pathological condition that manifests itself as a sudden and dramatic deterioration in health after alcohol. In fact, this is a reaction of immunity to the ingestion of an irritant in the form of ethanol.
Many often confuse intolerance with an allergic reaction, however, these concepts are somewhat different. With allergies, alcohol acts as a kind of catalyst, provoking a reaction. Allergy usually occurs on components of alcoholic beverages, for example, preservatives, flavors, malt, etc. While in the case of intolerance, the reaction occurs directly on ethanol.
The body of people with alcohol intolerance is simply physically incapable of splitting ethanol, so the only way to cope with intolerance is the absolute elimination of alcohol.
Types of
Alcohol intolerance can be of various kinds:
- Congenital is a genetically determined feature of the body in which the body is not able to process ethanol and its metabolites since birth;
- Individual - similar alcoholic intolerance arises due to the metabolic features of the body, which are observed in people suffering from the 3rd stage of alcohol dependence. Such patients had previously tolerated alcohol well, but over time alcoholism destroys organic structures and provokes the emergence of individual intolerance;
- Acquired - occurs due to taking any medications, diseases, head injuries, etc.
Causes of
True alcohol intolerance usually occurs in humans even at birth. The reason for this state is the enzymatic features, which consist in the inability to split alcohol.
In addition, experts identify several factors that have a different effect on the formation of alcohol intolerance:
- Hodgkin's lymphoma;
- Ethnic features. Usually in Asians intolerance to alcohol is detected much more often than in European nations;
- Reception Disulfiram in the treatment of alcohol dependence;
- Use of medicines for antifungal and antibiotic action.
Sometimes intolerance is individual and manifests itself as a clinical syndrome of alcohol dependence. Usually a similar reaction occurs in the 3 stages of alcoholism.
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How the
is manifested The most common sign of alcohol intolerance is the sudden redness of the skin. Because of this feature, this condition is often called flash syndrome( blush syndrome, blood rush syndrome).This reaction occurs almost instantaneously, immediately after drinking alcohol, even in small amounts.
Even children may experience a flash syndrome due to taking a drug containing ethanol. In the body, there is a rapid accumulation of acetaldehyde, which is not broken down by the liver. As a result, toxins provoke redness of the skin on the face, body. If, in spite of the reaction, continue to consume alcohol, then the toxic effect of the toxin multiplies.
Alcohol destroys the nervous system functions, cardiovascular and pulmonary activity, the work of the digestive system, etc.
In general, experts identify such symptoms of alcohol intolerance:
- Hyperemia of the skin on the body and face;
- Rashes, similar to hives;
- Tear and redness of the eyes;
- Itching and hypertension;
- Hyperemia and fever;Runny nose and cough;
- Vertigo, headaches, frequent loss of consciousness;
- Nausea-vomiting symptoms, heartburn;
- Increased blood pressure, tendency to bleeding;
- Choking, tachycardic attacks, etc.
In addition, the severity of manifestations affects the type of alcohol, its quantity and quality. In some patients, after an alcoholic throat, anaphylactic shock or asthma attack, Quincke's swelling or coma develops, which can end up lethal.
Diagnosis
The correctness of the diagnosis depends on the quality of the diagnosis. An important moment in determining the pathology is its differentiation with alcoholic allergy.
In general, diagnostic procedures include several procedures:
- Collecting an anamnesis through a patient interview and a thorough medical examination.
- Performing skin tests. On the surface of the skin, an insignificant amount of alcohol is applied, followed by monitoring the reactions to ethanol.
- Laboratory diagnostics of blood. Blood is examined for the presence of immunoglobulin E - a specific protein that directly indicates the presence of hypersensitivity and intolerance to ethanol and products containing it.
Treatment of
The main condition for the treatment of alcohol intolerance is the complete elimination of alcohol forever. If the reaction to alcohol is a mild allergy, then antihistamines are used. If the attack of intolerance has acquired a dangerous status, then desensitizing and detoxification therapy is used.
To eliminate acute reactions of alcohol intolerance, hormone therapy, hemosorption or plasmapheresis blood purification can also be prescribed. As additional drugs, enzyme and eubiotic drugs are prescribed.
After the end of treatment, patients with alcohol intolerance should take a closer look at the treatment, since the medicinal tincture contains alcohol, which can again cause an acute attack. If the patient has a craving for alcohol, then it is necessary to undergo additional specialized treatment for alcoholism.
Complications of
In case of an intolerance, it is necessary to immediately eliminate the toxic effects of ethanol on the body, otherwise complications such as:
- Migraines may occur. The cause of headaches are histamine substances present in the composition of ethanol;
- Anaphylactic shock. Due to an acute attack of intolerance, anaphylactic shock can provoke death;
- Alcoholic coma;
- A dangerous attack of suffocation.
Prevention methods
No medications are able to prevent a reaction in the presence of alcohol intolerance. If the patient is diagnosed with alcoholic intolerance of a congenital nature, alcohol is banned for life, because no drugs will help to remove the acute syndrome of intolerance. If you find an allergy to certain components of alcoholic beverages, you need to take a closer look at the choice of alcohol.