A grand party with friends ended devastatingly for Aruj
1. 33-year old Aruj was visiting home after a gap of 5 years (after landing a job with handsome paycheck overseas). It called for a grand celebration and Aruj was in no mood to disappoint his friends.
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1. 33-year old Aruj was visiting home after a gap of 5 years (after landing a job with handsome paycheck overseas). It called for a grand celebration and Aruj was in no mood to disappoint his friends.
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2. It was an extravagant party with a wide variety of cuisine from around the world. In addition, he had arranged for the best of spirits. Aruj was having a great time with friends- chatting about old times, dancing on popular numbers played by DJ and enjoying food & alcohol.
3. Aruj & his friends were in high spirits under the influence of spirits. However, after having gulped multiple drinks, they were getting unsteady on feet & were finding difficult to properly dance. Very soon, Aruj was unable to properly stand & it was decided to call it a day.
4. Aruj was helped by friends & relatives to his bed. He was incoherent and couldn't properly respond to his friends' queries. He was also very sleepy. It was thought to be related to multiple alcoholic drinks that Aruj had and he was left alone so that he could take proper rest.
5. It was 9 AM the next morning and Aruj had still not woken up. His wife Aji tried waking him up but he could barely open his eyes. Aruj seemed to understand what Aji spoke but he could not reply. He was unable to stand either & tended to slump to his right side.
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6. The family panicked and rushed Aruj to the emergency room (ER). As per ER physician's assessment, he had right sided weakness and motor aphasia (inability to speak with normal comprehension). BP was high: 190/120 mmHg. An urgent brain CT scan was ordered.
7. Family's worst fears came true. CT scan showed a large intracerebral hemorrhage-ICH (bleeding in brain) on the left side. Aruj was rapidly deteriorating and now was unconscious. He had to be rushed to operation theater for urgent decompressive surgery (to save his life).
8. Medicines were given to control his BP. He was put on mechanical ventilator and needed ICU care for 5 days. He was gradually weaned off the ventilator and shifted to ward. After another 3 days, he was shifted for physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
9. At one month follow up, he still had significant weakness of right arm and leg and needed two people's support for walking. He could communicate with gestures and a few words.
10. One episode of binge (alcohol) drinking had resulted in devastating consequences for Aruj. A happy life had turned upside down. It would take several months of physiotherapy and speech therapy for Aruj to meaningfully recover (though complete recovery looks unlikely).
11. Binge drinking can increase the risk of all strokes. Heavy drinking can result in acute severe rise in BP (as happened in Aruj's case), and high BP is a major risk factor for brain hemorrhage. Alcohol also interferes with platelet functions and can cause clotting disorder.
12. Take home message
*Avoid binge drinking at all costs.
*Enjoy and celebrate but avoid moderate or heavy drinking.
*Binge drinking can cause severe hypertension and increase the risk of brain hemorrhage.
*Avoid binge drinking at all costs.
*Enjoy and celebrate but avoid moderate or heavy drinking.
*Binge drinking can cause severe hypertension and increase the risk of brain hemorrhage.
What is binge drinking?
Drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent - or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter - or higher. In adults, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours.
Drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 percent - or 0.08 grams of alcohol per deciliter - or higher. In adults, this pattern corresponds to consuming 5 or more drinks (male), or 4 or more drinks (female), in about 2 hours.
Binge drinkers have a 99% higher risk of total and ischemic strokes as compared to non-binge drinkers.
Reference
doi.org
Reference
doi.org
Heavy drinking (5 or more drinks per day) is associated with double the risk of nonlobar ICH (intracerebral hemorrhage). Reference:
doi.org
doi.org
Alcohol intake (more than 30 drinks per month or binge drinking) is one of 10 risk factors for brain hemorrhage.
doi.org
doi.org
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