Are you binge drinking?  A lot of people don't see party as a party unless somebody drinks too much and passes out, or pukes all over the place. How many times have you been in the centre of the city on Thursday, Friday, Saturday night and seeing groups of young people staggering up and down the city streets, drunk out of their minds. This is the fault of binge drinking.

Today's version of binge drinking is any consumption of alcohol that exceeds the safe limit. This limit is 21 units of alcohol for a man, and 14 units of alcohol for a woman.

There are caveats to this modern version of binge drinking. These limits are based on a weekly intake of alcohol. They do not give license to drink all the units at one go. You must split it down to 3 units a day for a man, and 2 units per day for a woman.

The Unit Of Alcohol

What does a unit look like. One unit of alcohol equals either half a pint of beer, one glass of wine, or a single pub measure of spirits. Alcopops, such as Bacardi Breezer, contain 1.5 units of alcohol.

Alcohol is a depressant. That means a drug which reduces nervous activity, it slows you down, both your brain and your body. All it takes is a couple of drinks and most of your inhibitions take a back seat. Your co-ordination starts to get jumpy, you begin to lose your memory, and you are no longer in control of your judgment. The more you drink, the more danger you are in.

Here's an example of a typical person who is out binge drinking. He's out on the town and drinks his first couple pints. He starts to get more talkative and loud as his inhibitions are waning. After 4 or 5 pints he feels a bit bloated, so he goes on to the shots, whiskey. Over the next two hours he knocks back 10 whiskeys. At this stage his alcohol level has is around 0.4%.

This is enough for him to go into a coma. Once there, he wouldn't feel any pain. His heart would beat erratically, his breathing would slow, and his body temperature would drop dramatically. He would be at risk of choking on his own vomit, having a seizure, heart-attack, and long-term brain damage.

The weekends are always the busiest time for the accident and emergency departments in our hospitals. And people do die. Most of the people who visit A&E are only just past childhood. They haven't got the mental capacity or the physical maturity to handle the amount of alcohol that they're consuming.

Be careful what you drink. You may have one too many and then it will be too late.

You must call the emergency services if someone you are drinking with shows any of these symptoms:

If they pass out and cannot be woken.

Slow breathing, or no breathing.

Seizures.

Vomiting in their sleep.

While you're waiting for the emergency services to arrive you must put them in the recovery position, which is on their side to keep them from choking on their own vomit.

If you are having problems with your alcohol consumption you should talk with your doctor. You may need to undertake a process of Alcohol Detox. You can do this at home with the help from your physician. Or you may need to attend anAlcohol Detox Center for some inpatient Treatment.Thank you for visiting this hub about binge drinking.