Hanoi (VNA) – One thing that never fails to accompany the coming of Tet holidays is the repetitive droneof dire warnings about the risks of alcohol consumption.

Another thing that always seems to happen is that these dire warnings fall ondeaf ears.

Early last week, a 39-year-old man living in Hanoi’s Tay Ho district wasadmitted to the Poison Control Centre (PCC) of the Bach Mai Hospital in acritical condition.

His condition was suspected to be a result of excessive drinking. Two daysearlier, the patient had exhibited signs of fatigue and later fell into a deepcoma, with dilated pupils.

His relatives thought he’d suffered a stroke and rushed him to the Hanoi HeartHospital, but he was transferred later to the PCC following a methanol poisoning diagnosis.

A month earlier, the centre had received another man, 47, from Hanoi’s Thach Thatdistrict, with hazy vision, headaches and severely impaired cognitive functionsfollowing intensive ‘binge drinking’ for three to four days, and years ofalcoholism.

Test results showed that the methanol level inhis blood had reached 300mg/100ml.

The doctors tried their best, administering detoxification drugs and using apacemaker, but the main died.

Doctors and experts say a distinction must be made between methanol in spurious liquor, versus ethanol in legally produced liquor.

Legal alcoholic drinks are made with ethanol, and arequite safe to consume in moderation.

However, in Vietnam, it is not always easy to differentiate between fake andgenuine liquor, because fakes of famous brands are immensely profitable, and inwidespread use despite the risk of toxic substances being used in place ofethanol. Experts say that methanol – the simplest form of alcohol that can onlybe used legally for industrial purposes, for example, as antifreeze and fuel –is most often used in place ethanol in fake liquor, although its use for humanconsumption is expressly prohibited.

Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the PCC, said that in the lead up to importantholidays or celebrations, especially the New Year and Lunar New Year, at leastone victim of alcohol poisoning is admitted to the centre every day. The rateis two to three times higher than normal during the holidays, he said.

On ‘rush’ days, doctors have to handle four to five emergencies related toalcohol poisoning.

According to the Ministry of Health, the previous Lunar New Year holidaywitnessed some 2,000 cases of alcohol poisoning.

Alcohol hits the central nervous system directly, thus, nearly all the victimsdisplayed the same set of symptoms.

However, methanol poisoningalso leads to uncontrollable vomiting, lack of response to vocal calls, shakingor pinching, inability to sit up straight – and in more extreme cases like thepatient above, deep coma.

Dr Tran Hung of the PCC said it was difficult to know whether someone wassuffering from alcoholic poisoning or just being drunk.

Family members of those poisoned typically think that their relatives are justtired from drinking and that some rest will return them to normal. However, ifthe patient is suffering from alcohol poisoning, the intoxication will resultin hypoglycaemia - aprecipitous drop in blood sugar/glucose – followed by unconsciousness, and eachpassing moment makes full recovery less likely.

Nguyen also expressed deep concern over the fact that alcohol consumers aregetting progressively younger.

“As far as I know, the large majority of drinkers used to be adults,middle-aged, but drinking liquor is now widely prevalent among young adults,including undergraduates,” he said.

Medically speaking, Nguyen said, liquor “acts like sleeping pills” thanks toits muscle relaxant and sedative properties.

Of course, this soporific effect will be particularly dangerous if the drinkershave to drive, or even stay outside.

If the alcohol concentration in blood reaches 50 mcg/dcl, the ability of thedrinker to make judgement calls is negatively affected, motor skills areimpaired, five senses dulled, speech slurred.

Nguyen also said that excessive consumption of alcohol is often accompanied byaggressiveness.
With slowed down mental processes, physicalinjuries are bound to ensue, in addition to digestive disorders, said Hoang BuiHai, Head of the Department of Emergency and Intensive care, under the HanoiMedical University Hospital. He said ‘social drinking’ can “easily” turn intofull-blown alcohol abuse.
The number of alcohol poisoning cases is on therise due to a pronounced upswing in people’s alcohol consumption, especially ofdubious quality, experts say.

Nguyen Hung Long, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Food Administration under theMinistry of Health, said that the production and selling of fake liquor madewith methanol is quite common.

In addition the trend of consuming homemade ruou ngam (rice wine) is also on the rise. This liquorcomes with many “medicinal” properties when made with fruits and herbs orinfused with snakes, seahorses, monitor lizards and other creatures.

However, people take the ‘anything goes’ approach a bit too far, and take wordof mouth propaganda too seriously, resulting in haphazard use of random plantsand animals and insects found in the forests without knowledge of their properties.The results can be tragic, sometimes.

With demand for alcoholic drinks soaring during the Tet holiday, the market surveillance departments areill-equipped to inspect all the shops and stores in a city, and the fakeproducts are increasingly difficult to spot.

Officials have called on consumers to be more aware and very careful in buyingliquor, sticking to prestigious brands of clear origins with genuineanti-counterfeit tags and labels.
According to the General Department ofPreventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health, the body can only metabolisebeer and alcohol in little amounts – 10 grams of alcohol, equivalent to a smallglass of wine or cup of beer – in one hour.

Consuming beyond this level can cause toxins in alcoholic drinks to accumulatein the liver, poisoning the whole body.
In addition, excessive drinking is the directcause of at least 30 types of cancer, and the risk of cancer growsexponentially with every additional glass of beer or liquor.
Dr. Tran Quoc Bao from the General Department ofPreventive Medicine, said Vietnamese citizens consumed a total of 3.4 billionlitres of beer and 70 million litres of hard liquor last year.

The consumption of another 200 million litres of homemade liquor of dubiousorigins poses elevated health risks, he said.

Alarmingly, an adult male consumes some 27.4 litres of pure alcohol every year.

Nguyen Phuong Nam, a representative of World Health Organisation in Vietnam,said the country currently ranks second in Southeast Asia, 10th in Asia, and 29th in the world in alcohol consumption.

44.2 percent of drinkers consume at a “dangerous to health” level while 45 percentof drinkers drive within two hours after alcohol consumption.-VNA