A patient with methanol poisoning being treated at the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital has a fatal prognosis.
Brain scan results showed that the patient had a large brain hemorrhage, a complication of methanol poisoning. Doctors predicted that the patient had a high risk of death.
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| At the end of the year, the fear of alcohol poisoning continues. Illustrative photo |
Information from the Poison Control Center, Bach Mai Hospital said that recently the hospital has regularly received cases of ethanol and methanol poisoning, or alcohol-related illnesses such as acute pancreatitis, gastrointestinal bleeding, etc. Particularly at the Poison Control Center, there are cases of methanol poisoning in alcohol that are very severe, with a high mortality rate.
A typical case is that of patient NQC (male, 28 years old, in Nam Dinh ), with a history of gastritis, admitted to the hospital on December 30, 2024.
According to patient NQC's family, 2 days before being admitted to the hospital, the patient drank alcohol with many colleagues in Hanoi . After drinking, the patient felt very tired, but still went to his wife's hometown in Phu Xuyen, Hanoi to visit. The patient felt more and more tired.
Three hours after admission, the patient suddenly had difficulty breathing, without chest pain, and was taken to a hospital in Phu Xuyen by his family to receive oxygen. However, the patient's difficulty breathing increased and his consciousness became lethargic. The patient was intubated and then transferred to the Emergency Center of Bach Mai Hospital.
Also regarding alcohol poisoning, earlier at noon on December 19, 2024, in Long Bien district (Hanoi), a serious food poisoning incident occurred, causing two deaths and many others to be hospitalized.
Of the 20 hospitalized patients, 14 suffered from septic shock syndrome, toxic-lactate metabolic acidosis. Authorities determined the cause was poisoning by the chemical acetonitrile in the white wine that the partygoers drank.
Next, on December 22, 2024, Vung Tau Hospital admitted four patients with suspected methanol poisoning. One of these patients was in a coma. This is a typical example of the harmful effects of using alcohol of unknown origin, often containing industrial alcohol methanol, an extremely dangerous substance.
According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, Director of the Poison Control Center (Bach Mai Hospital), alcohol abuse or drinking alcohol containing methanol (industrial alcohol) can cause very serious consequences, even death.
Wines of unknown origin, especially craft wines, are often mixed with industrial alcohol methanol to increase the alcohol concentration and reduce production costs. Methanol, when entering the body, will be converted into formic acid and formaldehyde, causing serious damage to the liver, kidneys and nervous system, and can lead to blindness or death.
To minimize the risk of alcohol poisoning, especially during the holidays, everyone needs to pay attention to some basic principles. It is recommended that people drink alcohol in a controlled manner and not exceed the allowed level to help reduce the risk of alcohol poisoning.
One of the important principles is not to drink alcohol on an empty stomach. Drinking on an empty stomach will cause the body to absorb alcohol quickly, increasing the risk of poisoning.
In addition, when you feel drunk or have symptoms of dizziness or nausea, you should immediately stop drinking alcohol and switch to drinking water or non-alcoholic beverages to help your body recover.
When choosing wine, make sure to only buy wine from reputable stores and establishments with clear origins. Avoid buying wines of unknown origin, especially fake or poor quality wines, as they may contain toxic substances such as methanol. Make sure to check the label and expiry date of the wine to avoid using expired products.
In addition, it is important not to combine alcohol with other harmful substances. Alcohol can interact with some drugs, making the body susceptible to dangerous reactions, affecting the liver, kidneys and digestive system.
In particular, avoid combining alcohol with unsafe foods, such as raw seafood or undercooked meat, as this can make the body susceptible to bacterial infection or food poisoning.
According to Dr. Nguyen Trung Nguyen, at the end of the year, people need to drink alcohol at the lowest risk level in one drink, drink slowly, combine with food, and alternate with filtered water.
In particular, according to experts, relatives need to pay attention to monitoring the drunk person. If the drunk person is still aware, they should eat and drink foods containing sugar and starch such as rice, corn, potatoes, cassava, milk, sweetened fruit juice, soup, thin porridge, etc. to have energy, otherwise they can easily get hypoglycemia. At the same time, the family needs to pay attention to observe serious signs in relatives to take them to the emergency room promptly.
For example, if methanol is consumed, the patient will experience headaches, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, loss of vision, and coma. These symptoms usually do not occur immediately during the drinking session, and most patients fall into critical condition after 1 day. If not hospitalized and treated promptly, the risk of death is very high, and those who survive may face neurological and visual sequelae.
There are severe cases, even if they are saved, treatment is very difficult. In addition to mechanical ventilation, patients must undergo continuous blood filtration along with solutions to filter out toxins, the cost of treatment can cost hundreds of millions of dong.
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