Alcohol, sedatives can depress body’s breathing mechanism, doctor warns

By The Nation

 

 

Dr Krisda Sirampuj, director of an international anti-ageing medical centre, said a human body’s respiratory mechanism doesn’t start in the lungs, but actually in the brain, which instructs the human body to breathe. He said this brain-to-lungs connection is automatic and our bodies know not to hold the breath.

 

“However, my concern is that some activities can intentionally or unintentionally affect our breathing mechanism, like alcohol or sleeping agents. Some might say these things do not kill people, but they don’t realise that not everybody’s breathing mechanism is the same. Drinking too much or forcing someone to drink may lead to death. Some people commit suicide by overdosing with sleeping agents, or worst-case scenario, they wash down sedatives with alcohol,” Dr Krisda said.

 

The doctor has been studying cases of the overuse of sedatives and consumption of alcohol. He said the use of sedatives and alcohol depresses the body’s breathing mechanism. For instance, if morphine, a pain-relief medication, is teamed up with benzodiazepines, a sleep agent, the nervous system will not be able to control the breathing mechanism at all.

 

Signs of respiratory depression are confusion, disorientation, fatigue, shallow breathing, bluish or tinted skin, seizures, respiratory arrest, coma and eventual death.

 

The six chemicals that can stop respiration are:

 

1. Sleeping pills or anxiety suppressants such as benzodiazepines or barbiturates;

2. Drugs used in anaesthesiology;

3. Anti-epilepsy drugs like phenobarbital;

4. Ethanol or alcohol which can be catastrophic when combined with sleeping pills or other sleep-inducing agents such as barbiturates or chloral hydrate;

5. Opium-based painkillers such as morphine, tramadol, fentanyl and heroin;

6. Drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine and gamma hydroxy butyrate.

 

He said, these drugs are safe under the control of a medical expert or an anaesthesiologist, adding that people should always control the amount of alcohol they consume.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/lifestyle/30376679

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-09-25

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Wow, such a discovery.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Dr Krisda Sirampuj, director of an international anti-ageing medical centre, said a human body’s respiratory mechanism doesn’t start in the lungs, but actually in the brain, which instructs the human body to breathe.

I wonder if they also know that the brain can be used for thinking? In that case, they will have a whole new world to explore.

Thai science 

2 hours ago, ukrules said:

Wow, such a discovery.

Apparently this Dr drank too much iodine as a child.. what a  genius...

Just had a Thai friend ask me yesterday if he could die from drinking alcohol. I said he could, but the question he posed was too expansive. He asked if he could die if he went out and got drunk. Could the alcohol kill him. I explained that the variables of his evening depend on what may or may not happen. As long as he didn’t drink excessively, I wouldn’t worry. Unfortunately he just wanted a yes or no answer. 

 

His question stemmed from the story about the pretty who died recently. The story scared him.

The trigger for breathing is a build-up of carbon dioxide within the system and it is automatic.

Edited September 24, 20196 yr by Geoffggi

I need the name of this 'international anti-ageing medical centre' so I never go there.

Ah, got it,it's not drunk drivers killing people, it's drivers suffering from lack of breath

3 hours ago, webfact said:

The six chemicals that can stop respiration are:

 

1. Sleeping pills or anxiety suppressants such as benzodiazepines or barbiturates;

2. Drugs used in anaesthesiology;

3. Anti-epilepsy drugs like phenobarbital;

4. Ethanol or alcohol which can be catastrophic when combined with sleeping pills or other sleep-inducing agents such as barbiturates or chloral hydrate;

5. Opium-based painkillers such as morphine, tramadol, fentanyl and heroin;

6. Drugs such as amphetamines, cocaine and gamma hydroxy butyrate.

Marijuana smokers should be okay then. 

2 hours ago, rkidlad said:

Just had a Thai friend ask me yesterday if he could die from drinking alcohol. I said he could, but the question he posed was too expansive. He asked if he could die if he went out and got drunk. Could the alcohol kill him. I explained that the variables of his evening depend on what may or may not happen. As long as he didn’t drink excessively, I wouldn’t worry. Unfortunately he just wanted a yes or no answer. 

 

His question stemmed from the story about the pretty who died recently. The story scared him.

I guess you friend should try and read some books from the faculty section instead of sience fiction. ????

And just remind him to not trust Facebook so much at the same time.

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Alcohol, sedatives can depress body’s breathing mechanism, doctor warns

Got to be a world first... give the man a "winged badge" !

wow, what a brilliant stroke.  well done, doctor clouseau.

4 hours ago, Geoffggi said:

The trigger for breathing is a build-up of carbon dioxide within the system and it is automatic.

And that's where shallow water drowning happens a few inches from the surface when snorkeling. Build up of co2 then pass out. All to do with pressure, the body thinking more o2 then near the surface the body realises co2 saturation and you pass out and when you pass out you breath and drown. More people die from this than scuba diving. 

AVOID sedatives!

Possibly the article as presented on TV is lacking a small piece of data - - the study may well have been a study of drugs/alcohol /etc in the elderly as a warning to those people or the carers of the elderly.

 

Or I could be mistaken and it was just the reinvention of the wheel - one again. 

 

 

1 hour ago, Scot123 said:

And that's where shallow water drowning happens a few inches from the surface when snorkeling. Build up of co2 then pass out. All to do with pressure, the body thinking more o2 then near the surface the body realises co2 saturation and you pass out and when you pass out you breath and drown. More people die from this than scuba diving. 

Interesting comment, could you give a lead or two into some data on the subject. 

.

Edited September 25, 20196 yr by cyril sneer

damn what a genius !!!  I learnt this in the mid nineties when studying for my graduate psychotherapy degree ????

Anti aging medical centre. Expert in all things related to human body. Always go there for respiratory care.

12 hours ago, lust said:

Thai science 

Thai 4.0

 

40 years behind

The Thai medical community is just figuring this out now?  Scary! 

The sad thing is this really needs to be explicitly explained to Thais. Lack of education.

9 hours ago, Artisi said:

Interesting comment, could you give a lead or two into some data on the subject. 

Here's one : http://www.shallowwaterblackoutprevention.org/how-it-happens