A man reportedly died at a local liquor tavern in Limpopo's Mashamba Village after patrons allegedly engaged in what they called a “drinking competition” according to Brigadier Motlafela Mojapelo, a spokesman for the local police force.
“In the (competition), the winner who could consume the entire bottle of Jägermeister within a specified time, would get R200 cash.”
Mojapelo said one of the competitors “immediately collapsed” thereafter and was taken to the local clinic where he was certified dead.
Drinking a lot of alcohol quickly can have significant and even fatal consequences, including alcohol poisoning.
Too much alcohol consumed too quickly can cause problems with your breathing, heart rate, body temperature, and gag reflex as well as possibly cause death.
Jägermeister, is a digestif liqueur from Germany created in 1934, that is produced with 56 different herbs and botanicals. With a 35% alcohol content, the liqueur is naturally sweet, in contrast to liquor, which has a powerful flavour.
Alcoholic beverages, mouthwash, some medicines, and a few household items all contain ethanol (also known as ethyl alcohol), which is the chemical form of alcohol found in substances that we are most likely to use on a daily basis.
A major cause of alcohol poisoning is binge drinking, a pattern of heavy drinking. Your body can only process small amounts of alcohol at a time, shares pharmacist Zenande Mangqalaza. “In most cases, excessive alcohol consumption, especially in a short amount of time, leads to ethanol toxicity.”
Your risk of alcohol poisoning may increase according to a variety of factors, such as your size and weight. Whether or not you’ve had a recent meal, mixing booze and other drugs, the amount of alcohol in your drinks, the rate and volume of alcohol consumption.
Alcohol is not like other drugs where there is a linear assessment of how much is too much; instead, it depends on the individual’s health risk, illnesses and other factors. Dr Lizo Bango, a general practitioner, claims that the problem occurs when a person drinks more alcohol than their body can manage.
The complications that lead to death may not be the alcohol itself, but the complications associated with it, such as passing out, vomiting, and choking on their vomit, indicate that the person may have consumed far more than the definition of binge drinking, he explains.
Bango professes that we need to take into account that years of drinking causes high alcohol tolerance, a seasoned drinker’s liver is much more conditioned to drinking, which means that it can break alcohol down faster than someone with a very low alcohol tolerance.
“A seasoned drinker can drink five beers with little impairment as opposed to someone with a low alcohol tolerance; hence you find that deaths in young pupils who drink after matric dance their livers are not primed to process alcohol as yet.”
When you consume alcohol, your liver must break it down in order for you to remain sober. Some of us have greater enzyme capacity than others, which may be a genetic advantage, implying that your body is better equipped to break down the alcohol before it reaches toxic levels, which is encouraged by frequent peeing.
Prevention must come before treatment. If you are a seasoned drinker, you are aware of your limits; if you are young, you should not be drinking. Even if you do, drink in moderation, warns Bango.
“Alcohol poisoning treatment depends greatly on the condition you are in when we find you. Depending on your symptoms, someone who comes with alcohol poisoning may need to be put on a drip to flush out the alcohol. The average stay in the hospital is two to three days, during which time you will typically receive an IV sedative such as diazepam as well as a vitamin b complex mixture because alcohol lowers your vitamin b content and causes irregular heartbeat.”
In the event that you require medical attention due to having consumed too much alcohol, the doctor may administer intravenous fluids to keep hydration levels at a normal level, incubation to help with breathing, pumping, and hemodialysis to expedite the removal of alcohol from the blood concludes the medical experts.