“Adolescents fall into a coma from alcohol”: warnings from a psychiatrist-narcologist

Two recent stories at once with schoolgirls affected by alcohol – one died, and the second ended up in the hospital – reminded of the mortal danger of the “alcohol-teenager” combination. This problem becomes especially acute on the eve of the May holidays, when teenagers massively rush to celebrate them in nature, as well as subsequent graduation parties and summer holidays. “MK” learned from a narcologist which categories of teenagers are especially harmful to alcohol and what threatens a young body with abundant libations.

On April 7, in the village of Darasun, Trans-Baikal Territory, a 15-year-old schoolgirl was poisoned to death by alcohol. According to the Investigative Committee of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the Trans-Baikal Territory, “a 15-year-old girl celebrated her birthday and, together with her friends, drank strong alcohol. In the evening she became ill, and the next day she died. The preliminary cause of death is alcohol poisoning.

“The family is dysfunctional, both mother and daughter drank, I don’t know about my father,” a resident of Darasun, whom we contacted, told MK. – The girl had a mental disorder, she could close her mother in the bathhouse and set her on fire, she could put a knife to her mother’s throat … In general, she had suicidal tendencies, she tried to die several times, but that day she really drank a lot of alcohol and died from it.

A few days later, it became known about a similar case in Balashikha near Moscow, but there the 14-year-old schoolgirl survived, although she received severe alcohol poisoning and was hospitalized in serious condition. As it turned out, she went for a walk with her friend, where the children got drunk, so much so that the girl lost consciousness. A few hours later, the guy called her mother and said that her daughter was taken away in an ambulance.

A young resident of Balashikha was diagnosed with “degeneration of the nervous system” caused by alcohol consumption. It is noteworthy that such a diagnosis is made, as a rule, for chronic alcoholics.

Judging by the reviews in public, the Russians are not at all surprised by such terrible news. “My son is 15. All classmates drink. The son went on an excursion with the class, half the class got drunk. They took drinks with them on the road, ”one of the mothers shared her pain.

On this sad topic, “MK” talked with a narcologist.

“Any alcohol intake in adolescence can lead to an alcoholic coma,” warns the head doctor of the clinic, a psychiatrist-narcologist, a doctor of the highest category Alexei Kazantsev. – The second reason from which you can die is to choke on your own vomit, that is, as a result of asphyxia.

In an adult non-drinker, an alcoholic coma occurs from four ppm (for comparison, a bottle of vodka is 2.5 ppm – Auth.), That is, for example, from one and a half bottles of vodka or other strong alcohol. Since adolescents have much less tolerance and resistance to alcohol, they can go into coma, respectively, even at much lower doses.

– Which teenagers are especially harmful? Maybe with some specific diseases?

– I would say that it is harmful to all teenagers. Alcohol is a poison that kills neurons, a neurotoxin. First of all, it destroys the brain. Any alcohol intoxication is a mini-edema of the brain.

The cause of death of alcoholics is just from the same “delirious tremens” – cerebral edema, pulmonary edema. The second cause of death is a violation of the rhythm of cardiovascular activity, a violation of the rhythm of the heart with sudden cardiac arrest. And the third reason is death from cirrhosis of the liver as a result of bleeding.

According to the doctor, teenagers and children – at any age – should not drink alcohol, it can end very badly. The young body is not yet formed, the internal organs are not formed, the brain is still being formed, it is plastic …

Another danger is that death can occur if complications arise from the use of alcohol substitutes. For example, if it is poisoning with methyl alcohol, then blindness may occur as a result of atrophy of the optic nerve. Death can occur even after drinking small doses of such alcohol – 30 ml; especially if it is counterfeit whiskey, cognac and so on.