a friend of mine recently drank alcohol for 24 hours in las vegas during which we believed there was little or no consumption of water. during this time he did not obtain any sleep either. i am uncertain as to if he ate during this time. the alcoholic drinks consisted of gin and tonic and beer (separately). upon our arrival at the airport he appeared to be 100% coherent along with usual mobility and speech patterns. a little on the wild and rowdy yet not even close to a stupor. about 1/3 of the way into a 3 hr flight he fell asleep and basically passing out with his head hitting the seat in front of him and apparent signs of disorientation during which he rubbed his head and face rapidly. he then stood and walked himself to the restroom (approx 20 min later). he remained in there unitl the stewardess came to get us to get him (approx. 20 min). upon approaching him his eyes were open and he was sitting upright. he was unable to communitcate and did not respond to our requests. he established eye contact yet did not respond in any other fashion. he was given a Coca Cola and he poured it into the sink. eventually one of our friends walked him back to his seat by gently holding his hand and he was given 24 oz of water. he was able to talk and walk on his own out of the plane. he did not remember being in the restroom. after exiting the plane he told me that he shit himself and walked immediatley into the restroom at the airport. he was osberved pissing in the restroom and then he vanished and was later osberved standing at a shuttle stop to return to his vehilce smoking a cigarette. my questions are: 1 - can one be in that serious of condition and recover as quickly as he did? 2 - was it dehydration and if so would 24 oz of water help without administering an IV? 3 - when one is experiencing severe dehydration are they likely to be able to ambulate on their own? 4 - would their eyes be open during this period and if so, is it true that they would not hear anything? 5 - would one's body allow for urination after such a possbily severy dehydration episode or would it attempt to retain all water possible? 6 - if so disoriented how would he know to go to the restroom on the plane and at the airport and then where to find the shuttle to the parking lot? thank you in advance
From what I understand, alcohol consumption causes dehydration a few ways. One, IIRC, it is a diuretic, which causes the kidneys to filter out more water than they normally would, which in turn causes you to urinate more. Another way, is alcohol is broken down in your system in two steps, both of the products from which are toxic. This first done by the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase which oxidizes the ethanol first to ethanal (an aldehyde), which is then broken down by aldehyde dehydrogenase to ethanoic acid (acetic acid). In response to increased concentrations, your body tries to 'flush' these out by diluting them in water, and having you urinate it out (this is why you can avoid a hangover by drinking a lot of water before you go to bed). The altitude may have caused effected these two by-products in some way, and caused your friend to experience a sudden rush of toxins. I'm not really sure, this is kind of off the top of my head...
1 - can one be in that serious of condition and recover as quickly as he did? well he did, so I guess the answer is yes, or his condition was not that serious 2 - was it dehydration and if so would 24 oz of water help without administering an IV? No it was drinking for 24 hours… 3 - when one is experiencing severe dehydration are they likely to be able to ambulate on their own? Not sure on that one. But I guess the dehydration with e might be comparable. In these cases its only at the very end that the people collapse (I think). 4 - would their eyes be open during this period and if so, is it true that they would not hear anything? I’m thinking he’s had a black out. I tend to get more coherent, but it differs between people, and what they are drinking. 5 - would one's body allow for urination after such a possibly severy dehydration episode or would it attempt to retain all water possible? I’m not so sure he was so dehydrated. He was drinking beer and gin and tonic. Next time a gentle pinch the skin on the top of his hand, and see how long it takes to go back to normal. The longer the more dehydrated (this works for animals as well) 6 - if so disoriented how would he know to go to the restroom on the plane and at the airport and then where to find the shuttle to the parking lot? In a black out, after 23 pints I’ve managed to buy a burger at MacD’s, admittedly I dropped the burger into the river. There are a couple of other things to think about. How often and how much does he normally drink (the more he regular drinks the more alcohol dehydrogenase he’ll have in his system and the quicker he’ll return to soberness. Also did he at any point throw up? The last thing I would say is that airplanes normally limited the circulating air, so if the plane was not too full there is a good chance that they would have decreased the oxygen. If he was drunk it’s doubtful he was breathing deeply, and so would have suffered from a lack of oxygen, which might be why he fell asleep. The restroom on the plane may have had its own air supply, and thus more oxygen. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
