On April 29, China's soccer legend, former national team captain and Dalian soccer celebrity Zhang Enhua sadly passed away.
He had just celebrated his 48th birthday the day before his death. At his birthday party, the soccer star, who usually did not drink often, had a drink and then went to a friend's house to continue drinking. However, Zhang Enhua went into shock when he returned home, a tragedy that is heartbreaking.
Alcohol overdose has cost Chinese soccer a shining star. The news is heartbreaking. What are the dangers of alcohol to the human body? What should you do in the event of an alcohol-induced myocardial infarction? Are more physically fit athletes more immune to alcohol?
With these questions in mind, Northwestern Watchtower contacted Chen Jinzhang, deputy chief physician of the Liver Oncology Center at Nanfang Hospital of Southern Medical University, in an attempt to decipher these issues from a medical perspective, so that more people can adopt healthier habits and avoid similar tragedies from happening again.
NORTHWEST LOOKING TABLE: How does alcohol trigger such tragedies in the human body when Zhang Enhua returns home after drinking and suddenly dies of shock?
CHEN Jinzhang: There are three main scenarios. First, drinking too much alcohol will lead to a rise in blood pressure, causing more pressure on the heart, which in turn triggers vasospasm. Secondly, the blood viscosity rises, the blood is too viscous will lead to blood vessels do not pass, especially for people with basic diseases, such as the heart itself is not good people, as well as obese people, their blood viscosity rises easy to trigger myocardial infarction. Thirdly, excessive blood flow, the drinking process accompanied by food and water intake, these will lead to increased blood volume, to the heart to bring a greater load.
Northwestern Lookout: Zhang Enhua is usually not too fond of drinking alcohol, because of his birthday and new team, temporarily drink too much, like this usually seldom drink alcohol, suddenly drink too much at once, whether it will increase the burden on the heart?
Chen Jinzhang: Yes. We don't know exactly how much he drank at that time, so many happy things gathered together, sometimes can't help it, it's difficult to control the amount of alcohol consumption. Easy to head, over-excited, and then come on, the cumulative amount may be beyond his usual acceptable scope, and ultimately led to a serious result.
Northwestern Lookout: Zhang Enhua is a famous athlete, as a group of better physical fitness, will they absorb and metabolize alcohol faster? Will they be able to drink more than the average person?
Chen Jinzhang: Theoretically, athletes will have a stronger metabolism, but alcohol detoxification does not rely on simply having a fast metabolism and good physical condition to handle it. Because the speed of alcohol detoxification depends mainly on two enzymes, a hydrolase for ethanol and a hydrolase for acetaldehyde. The people who can really drink may have both enzymes (or a large number of enzymes), so there is the so-called "three pounds do not fall" or "thousands of cups do not fall" people, this part of the people are less prone to delirium or bad heart condition.
On the contrary, people in good physical condition, such as athletes, may be immune 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 enzyme that detoxifies alcohol obtained?
Chen Jinzhang: This kind is usually congenital, and can't be mended later.
NORTHWEST WATCHTOWER: Why did Zhang Enhua die of shock after returning home on his own after his friends noticed nothing out of the ordinary during a drinking party?
Chen Jinzhang: This situation is very likely to arise, the process of generation is very secretive. Some people drink after delirium, then there may have been signs 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.
Zhang Enhua's final circle of friends
Northwest Lookout: How can we avoid such a situation from arising?
CHEN Jinzhang: Generally speaking, the first thing to do is to start at the source, first of all, to control the intake of alcohol. You don't want to 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 the symptom of "aspiration", for example, when one comes home after drinking and vomits in the middle of the night, in the absence of anyone to take care of him or her, he or she may aspirate by mistake and suck into the windpipe, blocking the windpipe, which is also extremely easy to lead to death. There is also acute pancreatitis, which is characterized by severe pain in the stomach (not stomach cramps), and the mortality rate of this disease is not low. Together with the common myocardial infarction, these are the three major 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 carcinogenesis, 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.
But if alcohol accumulates to a certain amount, then there are bound to be effects on the body. Including genetic mutations, including damage to organs. In the clinic, we will come into contact with some long time drinking lead 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 bit of 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 recommended medicinal wine remedies, it is no problem to drink a cup less, but must pay attention to the amount.
Northwest Watchtower: Nowadays, a lot of parties are still prevalent in the culture of persuading people to drink, from the perspective of human health, what kind of advice do you have for 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 it a bad thing. So the persuasion of alcohol should be just right, not excessive or overdone.
