BRIEF INTRODUCTION

In chemistry, alcohol is any organic compound in which the hydroxyl functional group (-OH) is bound to a saturated carbon atom. The term alcohol basically refers to primary school ethanol, (ethyl alcohol), the predominant type of alcohol in alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is usually present in drinks and beverages, types of alcoholic drinks consumed could be divided into beers, wines and spirits and usually contains 3-40% alcohol volume.

Beer:

This is one of the oldest and most consumed drink after water and tea, it’s produced through a process know as brewing which involves the fermentation process. It involves fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains, most commonly malted barley, although wheat rice and corn are mostly used as well. Darker and bitter beer are known to have higher alcoholic content

Wine:

The word wine which is gotten from the latin word ‘‘Vinum’’, is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented grapes, these grapes could either be vitis rupestris a hybrid with vitis labrusca or only vitis rupestris. The grapes are usually fermented without sugar, acids, enzymes, water or other nutrients. The sugar present in the grapes is usually converted by yeast to ethanol and carbon dioxide. Different types of grapes and strains of yeast produces different styles of wine, red wine have higher alcoholic content compared to white except for chardonnay while sweeter wine have less alcohol content

Spirits:

This is a type of alcoholic drink which is produced by distillation, this process purifies and removes diluting components like water for the purpose of increasing the alcohol content, it contains no added sugar and has at least 20% alcohol. Distilled beverages usually have an alcohol concentration higher than 30%.

Alcohol Poisoning

Daily consumption of alcohol is not expected to exceed one unit per hour because after an individual consumes alcohol, the body has to filter the alcohol's toxin from the blood. Our system tends to absorb alcohol even faster than food making alcohol get to the bloodstream very quickly. The liver has the power to process about one unit per hour so consumption of 2 or more units within one hour would lead to an extra unit in the system. The more you drink the higher your BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) which if it becomes too high could affect the proper functioning of the body and affect the brain, heart rate, temperature or even lead to unconsciousness. You become more vulnerable to being alcohol poisoned when you, binge drink(4 or more for women and 5 or more for men), drink heavily ( 8 or more for women or 15 or more for men per week), drink during pregnancy or underage drinking.

Blood Alcohol Content:

Blood alcohol content also known as blood concentration, refers to the amount of alcohol in the bloodstream. It is expressed as the weight of ethanol measured in grams in 100 milliliters of blood or 210 litres of breath. BAC can be determined either through a breathalyzer test, a blood test, or a urine test

WHAT YOUR DRINK CONTAINS

-12 ounces of beer (five percent alcohol)
-8 ounces of malt liquor (seven percent alcohol)
-5 ounces of wine (12 percent alcohol)
-1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor like gin, rum, vodka and whisky (40% alcohol)

SYMPTOMS OF ALCOHOL POISONING

-Loss of coordination
-Vomiting
-Confusion
-Seizures
-Low body temperature (Hypothermia)
-Irregular breathing
-Unconsciousness

In extreme cases, people suffer heart attacks, breathing might stop completely as well as choking. So whenever you see a friend, family or foe exhibiting some of these symptoms, he or she definitely needs your help as his/her life might depend on it

HANDLING SUCH SITUATIONS;

Things you should do to help such a person exhibiting the symptoms above are,
-Try to keep them conscious
-Keep such person in a sitting position
-Give them water
-If they need to lie, ensure they lie on their side to avoid choking on their vomit
-Keep them warm
-Monitor their symptoms

ENSURE YOU NEVER;

-Give them coffee as this would make them more dehydrated
-Tell to take a shower as this would further lead to further fall in their body temperature
-Instruct them to walk around because they may end up falling and sustaining injuries because of loss of balance
-Tell them to sleep as this would help their blood alcohol content rise even further.

I hope this post came in enlightening and helpful, Thanks for reading :)

Images:

http://pineislandbeer.com/the-beers/
http://www.albumgalaxy.com/addicted-to-wine/
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/23/dining/high-alcohol-spirits-gain-in-number-and-popularity.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/10/alcohols-catch-22-new-insights-into-drinking-and-brain-damage/246498/
https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/pubs/hdbk/actions_drink
https://sobernation.com/someone-is-having-an-alcohol-overdose-what-should-i-do/
http://www.newhealthadvisor.com/Alcohol-Poisoning-Cure.html
http://www.melbournebusinessesonline.info/stop-people-drinking-alcohol/

Sources:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_drink
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/215627.php
https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/alcohol-facts/health-effects-of-alcohol/effects-on-the-body/alcohol-poisoning/
https://www.articles.mercola.com/alcohol-poisoning.aspx