In the course of time, on April 29th, a sad news came from Beijing: what had been our country's
national soccer team
The captain of the team, Dalian soccer legend Zhang Enhua, unfortunately passed away due to a sudden condition.
Just before that, on April 28, Zhang Enhua had just celebrated his 48th birthday. At that joyous birthday party, Zhang Enhua, who usually doesn't drink often, made an exception to drink in the joyful atmosphere, and after the party, he went to a friend's home to continue the party. However, just after he returned home, a tragedy occurred - Zhang Enhua went into shock and did not survive.
The news that alcohol, a seemingly common drink, has mercilessly taken the life of a great player is deeply saddening. What are the effects of alcohol on the human body? What should we do when alcohol triggers a myocardial infarction? Are more physically fit athletes more resistant to alcohol? With these questions, we contacted Chen Jinzhang, deputy chief physician of the Liver Oncology Center of Nanbian Hospital of Nanbian Medical University, hoping to answer these questions from a medical perspective, so that more people can develop healthy habits and avoid similar tragedies from happening again.
Northwest Lookout: Zhang Enhua returned to his residence after drinking and passed away in sudden shock, how does alcohol trigger such a tragedy in the human body?
CHEN Jinzhang: The effects of alcohol in the human body are categorized into three main situations. Firstly, when drinking to a certain extent, blood pressure may rise, putting more pressure on the heart, and this pressure can lead to vascular spasm. Secondly, the elevation of blood viscosity, the blood is too viscous will lead to blood vessel impassability, especially for people with basic diseases, especially the heart itself is not very good people, as well as obese people, their blood viscosity increase will trigger myocardial infarction. Thirdly, excessive blood flow, the drinking process is accompanied by food and water intake, these will lead to an increase in blood volume, bringing a greater load to the heart.
Northwestern Lookout: Zhang Enhua usually do not like to drink too much, due to the birthday and the new team, temporary drink too much, like this usually rarely drink, suddenly drink too much all of a sudden, whether it will increase the burden on the heart?
Chen Jinzhang: Yes. We don't know exactly how much he drank at the time, so many happy things get together, sometimes involuntarily can't control the amount of alcohol he drinks. Easy to head, over-excited, and then come on, the accumulated amount may exceed the scale of his usual acceptable, and ultimately led to a serious result.
Northwestern Lookout: Zhang Enhua As famous athletes, as a group of people in better physical condition, do they absorb and metabolize alcohol more quickly? Will they be able to drink more than the average person?
Chen Jinzhang: Theoretically, athletes will have a stronger metabolism, but alcohol detoxification is not solved by simply having a fast metabolism and good physical condition. Because the speed of alcohol detoxification mainly depends on two enzymes, a hydrolyzing enzyme of ethanol and a hydrolyzing enzyme of acetaldehyde. The people who can really drink may have both enzymes (or the amount of alcohol enzyme is more), so there is the so-called three pounds or a thousand cups of people, this part of the people are not prone to delirium or bad heart condition.
On the contrary, people in good physical condition, such as athletes, may be resistant to a portion of alcohol after ingesting it. However, not all athletes are sane after drinking, and it depends most fundamentally on the ability of the enzymes in their bodies to detoxify alcohol.
Northwestern Lookout: How is this alcohol-dissolving enzyme obtained?
Chen Jinzhang: This kind is usually congenital, and can't be mended later.
Northwestern Lookout: Why did Zhang Enhua pass away in shock after returning home on his own after his friends noticed nothing out of the ordinary during a drinking party?
Chen Jinzhang: The possibility of this situation is not small, the process of generation is very secretive. Some people drink after delirium, then there may have been the precursor of myocardial infarction, but no one knows that his heart is not comfortable, the over-excitement of alcohol masked his heart is not comfortable, gradually may induce myocardial infarction, and then ischemic time is too long, the person may be gone.
Northwest Lookout: How can we avoid such a situation from arising?
CHEN JINZHANG: It usually starts at the source, first of all by controlling the intake of alcohol. You do not exceed the amount you can accept. This amount is generally unknown to outsiders, you must be clear. Once there is a state of euphoria or depression, it means the amount is there, just right.
The second aspect is to refrain from overly strenuous arguments or exercise during drinking, a condition that also increases the burden on the heart.
The third aspect is that after drinking, one should never bathe too quickly, take hot baths or hot springs, etc. These conditions can aggravate the burden on the heart. If the temperature of the outside environment is too cool after drinking, it will be equally dangerous. For those who drink more, it is recommended to keep some medications such as nitroglycerin and cardiac pills on hand to help stretch the blood vessels. In Zhang Enhua's case, CPR should be done immediately after shock to promote blood circulation, which will have a protective effect on the heart and brain.
Northwest Lookout: what other effects does excessive drinking have on the human body?
Chen Jinzhang: It may induce symptoms of "aspiration", such as coming home after drinking and vomiting in the middle of the night, and in the absence of anyone to take care of them, people may aspirate by mistake, sucking into the windpipe, blocking the windpipe, which is also extremely likely to lead to death. There is also acute pancreatitis, which is characterized by severe pain in the stomach (not stomach cramps), and the risk of death from this condition is not low. Together with the common myocardial infarction, these are the three main causes of death from excessive drinking.
And prolonged alcohol abuse can cause damage to the body's pancreas, liver, and kidneys, such as alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver, which is now common, and the resulting risk of liver failure, as well as diabetes, among other things.
Apart from that, carcinogenicity, as mentioned in Nature, is one of the negative effects. Regarding the phenomenon of carcinogenicity, in small quantities, it may not induce a sudden change in genes, as this requires a process and it is not a direct trigger button.
However, if alcohol accumulates to a certain amount, then there are bound to be effects on the body. Including genetic mutation, including damage to organs. In the clinic, we will come into contact with some long-term drinking led to liver cancer patients, cirrhosis of the liver after the induction of cancer, hardening of the long time, it will gradually become a tumor.
Northwest Lookout: with so many negative effects of alcohol, would it be different if you drank in moderation?
Chen Jinzhang: Of course, a small amount of alcohol intake will still have a little benefit. For some elderly people, drinking some red wine in moderation can help dilate and soften blood vessels. Some degrees of white wine, as long as the amount is not too large, can also prevent the shrinkage of blood vessels in the elderly. The experts of the regular Chinese medicine practitioners recommend the medicinal wine remedies, it is no problem to drink a glass less, but must pay attention to the amount.
Northwestern Watchtower: Nowadays, many parties are still prevalent to persuade people to drink and so on, from the human body's health, what kind of advice do you have to give to these people at the party?
Chen Jinzhang: It's not right to persuade people to drink, only you know how much you can drink. If you persuade a person to drink and that person's drinking capacity is not up to that high. He is in the way of face or other aspects of excessive drinking, is a life-threatening. A gathering of friends is supposed to be a good thing, don't live to make a good thing a bad thing. So persuade people to drink just right, not too much and not too much.
