News di Alcologia

Doctors warn against 'smoking' alcohol

DALLAS (WFSS/CNN) - There's a new trend in the bar scene that involves your favorite hard liquor and dry ice. Breathing in the alcohol vapors gets you buzzed fast and some say you don't ingest any empty calories.

But one doctor in Texas is saying "smoking" your alcohol is extremely bad for your health.

"Once I lost the weight ... if you lose the weight, then you want to keep it off. So I figured I could have my cake and eat it too," said Broderic Allen.

Allen stopped drinking to help him lose 80 pounds. Now instead, he "smokes" his alcohol, mixing it with dry ice.

"If you do it too much at one time it kind of, it just kind of overwhelms you," he said.

Dr. Walter Gaman said this is not safe.

"It goes right through your lungs, hits your bloodstream, and goes right to your brain," he said.

There's no time for it to metabolize in the liver, or be slowed down by food in the digestive track.

Instead, it goes straight to the lungs.

"The dry ice is so cold, you're not going to be able to humidify it. It can have a toxic effect on your lungs, not to mention alcohol is not very good in your lungs. Just imagine just pouring alcohol into your lungs ... it's just horrible," Gaman said.

Gaman said one time is too much. It's way too easy to overdose.

"You're going to get a heavier load of alcohol faster. It's going impair you faster," he said.

(Articolo pubblicato dal CUFRAD sul sito www.alcolnews.it)