Scientists have repeatedly proven that moderate alcohol consumption is not only not harmful, but also beneficial. According to scientists from the University of Rochester, alcohol has a beneficial effect on the heart, kidneys and even the liver, as well as on the nervous system of the body. Let's figure out what type of alcohol is good for what.

Plus alcohol - minus Alzheimer's

Drinking small amounts of alcohol helps reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, which is now one of the most terrible diseases of our time. According to scientists, alcohol has a beneficial effect on the glymphatic system, which cleanses the central nervous system of mammals from waste products. The glymphatic system was discovered in 2012 during an experiment on mice. Its work is based on pumping cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into brain tissue and then removing it, along with a number of proteins and other compounds that may be involved in the development of dementia and other pathological conditions.

However, excessive alcohol consumption leads precisely to the formation of dementia and senile dementia. Therefore, when it comes to alcohol, the main thing is not to abuse it.

Cinema, wine and a healthy liver

Dry wines are not only tasty, but also very healthy. In principle, the health benefits of wine have been known since ancient times. Scientists report that dry red wine is good for the heart, while white wine is safer for the liver. In addition, red wine is good for the blood - it increases the level of hemoglobin in the blood and helps in every possible way to recover from blood loss. Wine was the most popular medicine of French and Italian kings for several centuries.

In addition, red wine has an antioxidant effect, slows down the aging process, and also increases tone and vigor, recommended for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. White wine is more beneficial for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. However, in case of urolithiasis, white wines are strictly prohibited.

Champagne for fatigue

The fact that one sip of champagne relieves fatigue is not only an invention of cunning ladies, but is actually a fact. Scientists from the University of Edinburgh have proven that a couple of sips of champagne have a positive effect on the nervous system, relieving irritability, restoring appetite and improving taste sensations. In addition, champagne is useful for heart failure, as well as for excellent removal of fluid from the body.

Port and vermouth = great appetite

Drinks such as port wine, vermouth and cognac help with lack of appetite, promote better secretion of gastric juice and the absorption of food. Doctors used cognac as a medicine, providing it to patients as a sedative and warming agent. Cognac itself relieves headaches, dilates blood vessels, and 30 ml of the drink mixed with sugar will help with hypertension and angina.
However, cognac should not be consumed if you have diabetes or gallstone disease.

Vodka with pepper - help against colds

Vodka is considered one of the most dangerous drinks in the world of alcohol. This is because it is this alcohol that causes severe addiction. However, vodka mixed with pepper is very effective against colds and coughs, and in small doses helps with headaches.). Moderate consumption has a beneficial effect on digestion. 25-30 grams of vodka daily reduces cholesterol levels.

It's not beer that kills people

Beer contains a lot of vitamins B1 and B2; one liter of beer is enough for a daily dose of vitamins B1, B2 and C. Moreover, it is in beer that they are absorbed best. In addition, beer is rich in ascorbic acid, which is added to prevent oxidation processes.
The carbon dioxide contained in beer stimulates gastric secretion and blood flow in the muscles, liver, lungs and kidneys. In addition, it does not allow us to drink beer in one gulp and thereby prevents us from quickly getting drunk. Hop extractives have a sedative and hypnotic effect and have bactericidal properties.

It is known: alcohol is poison. But salt and sugar are also poison. It all depends on the dose. And, as we know, everyone has their own.
However, there is a generally accepted norm. The German consumer organization Stifung Warentest has published the latest medical research.
The one-time limit, which even a real man should not exceed, is 40 grams of pure alcohol, which is one liter of beer, half a liter of wine or about six glasses of vodka. Women tolerate alcohol worse, for them the norm is exactly two times lower. Here you have the whole scale of one feast.
Scientists at the Copenhagen Institute of Preventive Medicine have found that drinking good wine in reasonable quantities has beneficial effects on the heart. Moreover, according to the Danes, there are no strict limits on wine consumption, not counting, of course, heavy drinking, which entails cirrhosis of the liver and hypertension. French scientists came to similar results even earlier. They attribute magical properties to the tannins contained in wine, as well as flavonoids, which are found in apples, strawberries, and tea. Wine has an antioxidant effect. Grape wine retains all the riches of the vine and even increases them as a result of fermentation. Red wine contains acetylsalicylic acid, that is, aspirin.

It would be nice to turn to the experience of Russian medicine. Even in the last century, doctors from St. Petersburg and Moscow wrote in their works not only about the negative effects of alcohol, but also about many of its positive properties, thanks to which alcoholic drinks have a worldwide distribution.
And, above all, Russian doctors noted its stimulating, revitalizing effect. In case of loss of strength, fainting, loss of blood, alcohol in a diluted state, in the form of wine or alcoholic beverages, acts magically. Before drinking alcoholic beverages in the mentioned conditions, the heart beats weakly, the pulse is barely noticeable, deathly pallor of the outer integument and general weakness are noticed. After drinking a certain, certain amount of wine, a person immediately changes.
The authors of numerous studies have noted that in case of chronic suffering of the body (for example, anemia), in recovery from a serious illness, good air, good food and a glass of good wine make up much, if not everything.
What does science say today about the medicinal properties of alcohol?
Well, for example: the so-called. What is this French paradox? What is it?
And it lies in the fact that the French, although they eat a large amount of fat, although there is a lot of cholesterol in their blood, rarely develop coronary atherosclerosis. And they die from this disease much less often than, for example, Americans. Why? It turned out that wine, which the French drink constantly, plays a decisive role in the prevention of coronary heart disease. Moreover, not white, but red. So it's not just about alcohol: laboratory studies show that red wine also contains phenolic compounds that have a powerful antioxidant effect.
In general, epidemiological studies have found that in France, drinking 20-30 grams of wine per day reduces the risk of developing coronary artery disease by at least 40%.

In Japan, the effect of different doses of alcohol on serum lipids was studied. The experiment involved 832 men aged 35 to 59. They were divided into five groups based on the amount of alcohol consumed per day.
Serum lipids were analyzed depending on the amount and type of drinks consumed and cigarettes smoked per day, as well as age and body weight. It was revealed: the amount of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol is less, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol is greater, the greater the amount of alcohol consumed. This indicator does not depend on the type of drinks consumed, but beer drinkers had a significantly lower level of triglycerides in the blood serum. And this again confirms that alcohol prevents the development of atherosclerosis.

In Strasbourg (France), 25 patients with cancer of various locations were treated. All patients had the last stage of cancer: pain, bone metastases that caused bone destruction. Previously, they had been treated with radiation and chemotherapy, as well as painkillers, without success. Patients received from one to three infusions of 95% ethyl alcohol in an amount of 3 to 25 ml. The treatment was carried out under the control of computed tomography, which made it possible to accurately insert needles and control the absorption of ethanol in order to minimize the risk of complications.
After 24-48 hours, 74% had less pain, which allowed them to reduce their dose of pain medications. Thus, it was found that subcutaneous injections of ethyl alcohol in such a situation are highly desirable.

Such a study was conducted in Dijon (France) ... The usual treatment for primary hyperaparathyroidism is surgery. But with a high operational risk, surgical treatment is contraindicated for patients.
Therefore, we tested an alternative treatment method - subcutaneous injection of ethanol under ultrasound guidance directly into the tumor to cause its necrosis. Of the thirteen patients to whom this method was applied, in seven after treatment with ethanol, after 48 hours, the result was optimal.
Another four had partial success. Treatment with ethanol for this disease is recommended...

In Tokyo, one hundred forty-six patients with liver tumors received 1048 ethanol injections. It turned out that relapse of a tumor exposed to ethanol is a rare occurrence. Complications after treatment occurred in only three. Conclusion: Ethanol injection is a valuable treatment for liver cancer. Safe, easy to use and cheap.

Only five facts - out of many dozens, hundreds that we have and which stubbornly testify that alcohol, usually accused of all mortal sins, under certain conditions is our friend, our assistant, our healer.

One hundred grams for health. Any feast begins with these words. Under the auspices of the fight for health, people drink alcoholic tinctures, alcoholic drinks and anything that burns in moderate and immoderate quantities.

In the minds of the average person, ethyl alcohol has almost a cult meaning: it is enough to use such a panacea and all diseases will immediately disappear. In vino veritas. Alcohol as a medicine is a universal remedy for all occasions.

But is there really truth in wine? The truth, as always, is somewhere in the middle.

Any, even the most useful substance in excessive quantities turns into poison. This is especially true for alcohol. For this reason, it is at least strange to see articles and materials about alcohol treatment circulated on the Internet.

There are a huge number of diseases for which ethanol is strictly contraindicated. To understand in what pathologies ethyl alcohol can have a therapeutic effect, one should go by the opposite. So who has a lifelong ban from libations? There are several groups of such people.

People suffering from diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This includes gastritis, ulcers (stomach, duodenum), and colitis. Alcohol has a pronounced irritating effect on these organs: after all, ethanol is an excellent solvent with both acidic and alkaline properties. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the composition of most “high degree” drinks generously contains all kinds of flavors, concentrates and extracts that are highly acidic (they destroy the mucous membrane of organs). This is how alcohol affects a healthy person. Is it worth mentioning how destructive the effect of ethyl alcohol is on a sick person? Wanting to get rid of poisoning, gastritis and other diseases with alcohol tinctures and pure alcohol, the unlucky patient risks registering in a “wooden apartment”.

Diseases of the liver and gall bladder. Although the liver is part of the gastrointestinal tract, we should talk about it in more detail. According to statistics, one person in ten thousand suffers from hepatitis. Approximately half of all diagnosed hepatitis is toxic. Discouraging statistics: toxic hepatitis over time turns into cirrhosis of the liver, and the majority of patients (almost 95%) are people who regularly drink alcoholic beverages. Statistics eloquently testify against the use of alcohol to “treat” the gastrointestinal tract.

Mental illnesses. Another reason to drink is to “calm your nerves.” If you believe psychiatric statistics, every second person has mental pathologies in active or latent form. Among doctors of such an unusual specialty, this phenomenon is expressed in the principle “there are no healthy ones, there are underexamined ones.” Any mental disorder from neuroses to schizophrenia responds negatively to alcohol intake. Is it worth “calming your nerves” with alcohol at the cost of deterioration of the emotional background, and possibly loss of adequacy? A rhetorical question.

Cardiovascular diseases. There are many legends regarding alcohol. One of them says that alcohol helps with high blood pressure: just drink a glass of vodka or cognac and your blood vessels will thank you. This is only partly true. For the vast majority of hypertensive patients, alcohol as a medicine is strictly contraindicated. Drinking is allowed on major holidays and only certain types of alcoholic drinks. The same applies to persons with heart failure and coronary heart disease. Alcohol in significant quantities causes a sharp narrowing (stenosis) of the walls of blood vessels. As a result, blood cannot circulate normally through them and blood pressure rises. This can end disastrously: a stroke, and in cases where the nutrition of the heart muscle is disrupted - a heart attack. These are dangerous conditions that know no age and often lead to death. Is this treatment worth it?

Persons with kidney disease. We are talking about kidney failure, nephritis and pyelonephritis. During processing by the body, ethyl alcohol breaks down into its elementary components. Processing products (metabolites) of ethyl alcohol negatively affect the human excretory system and can provoke a deterioration in the condition. Therefore, any arguments that alcohol is useful as a diuretic are untenable. This is a dangerous practice.

Persons suffering from atherosclerosis. Another popular statement, this time reliable: alcohol helps eliminate atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessels. As always, this is only a half-truth. Indeed, in moderate quantities, alcoholic drinks can destroy cholesterol. But this is not the merit of ethanol. We are talking about very small quantities of red wine. This drink contains substances of plant origin that fight fat deposits on the walls of blood vessels. But nothing more.

Diseases of the brain, tumors of intracranial localization. Alcohol is strictly contraindicated for people suffering from neurological diseases (especially if neurological deficits are observed). Neurological diseases are often accompanied by intracranial hypertension - increased intracranial pressure. Alcohol does not help with headaches; it leads to an even greater increase in blood pressure. This can trigger an attack of a disease (for example, epilepsy).

The list is impressive. Does this mean that apologists for drinking alcohol for therapeutic purposes have a completely wrong idea of ​​the situation and alcohol is unsuitable for treatment? No, this is also a fallacy. In some cases, alcohol as a medicine can be used, but only as an aid, and not as the main drug. What are these cases?

Alcohol as a medicine: when can it help?

Alcohol is not always an absolute evil. So, it can be a good help:

For colds. Alcohol in small quantities (no more than 100 ml), especially natural cognac and red wine, can have a beneficial effect on immunity and resistance to various infections.

For hypertension. We are talking only about red wine and only in quantities of no more than 50 ml per day. This therapeutic dose really helps to dilate blood vessels and normalize blood flow. But if a person has been sick for a long time and has a severe (3 or higher) stage of hypertension, this is a reason to avoid alcohol for life. People with heart disease should not drink under any circumstances; even a small amount of ethanol will be enough to cause complications.

For atherosclerosis, as already mentioned, it is permissible to drink 100-150 ml of red wine to dissolve the cholesterol formed on the walls of blood vessels. It is important to keep in mind that quantity does not translate into quality. Quite the opposite. Drinking large amounts of alcohol can only make the situation worse.

For methanol poisoning. Paradoxically, in case of methanol poisoning (which happens when drinking low-quality alcohol), ethanol saves the situation, i.e. alcohol in the typical sense.

In all other cases, alcohol is useless and harmful. You shouldn’t believe “folk wisdom” and look for empty reasons to drink for the benefit of your health.

How to properly drink alcohol for therapeutic purposes

The most important thing when using alcohol as a medicine is not to provoke unwanted effects on organs and systems. To do this, it is important to adhere to a number of rules:

Under no circumstances should you drink on an empty stomach. An empty stomach will react poorly to a dose of alcohol.

Drink only with a snack. In this case, the snack should be moderate, but nutritious enough. This is recommended based on the toxic effects on the body in general and the stomach in particular.

Drink no more than 50-100 ml of alcohol per day. This is the optimal amount for a relatively healthy person.

Preference should be given to natural “noble drinks”, such as red wine and cognac. Champagne is strictly contraindicated for hypertensive patients and people suffering from heart disease, since this drink can impair blood circulation.

Alcohol is not always evil. The most important thing is to develop a culture of using it and not overdo it. When using alcohol as a medicine, one should not forget that in such matters one should not rely on “folk wisdom”. This practice should be treated precisely as a treatment, which means drinking in moderation and with great caution.

Alcohols are used as organic solvents and as fuel for engines (the addition of methanol and ethanol promotes complete combustion and prevents air pollution).

They are also used for the production of butadiene, from which synthetic rubber is subsequently made, for the production of a number of pharmaceuticals (medicinal ether, chloroethane, etc.), and also for the extraction of ethanoic acid and “fruit essences” (esters).

In the future, the importance of methanol for the extraction of a wide variety of substances needed by the national economy will increase more and more. In terms of the richness of its applications, scientists believe, it will surpass ethanol, and its role will be comparable to that played today in organic synthesis by unsaturated hydrocarbons.

Methanol is used to extract methanal, necessary for the production of plastics and phenol-formaldehyde resins and some esters (similar to ethanol).

Application of phenol

Phenol was once considered one of the most important antiseptics and was widely used to disinfect rooms, furniture, and surgical instruments. Until now, the trivial name for phenol has been preserved - carbolic acid. Now phenol rarely acts as an antiseptic; it has been replaced by other substances. But the role of phenol in the synthetic industry is increasing more and more. Caprolactam is extracted from phenol, which is used for the production of plastics and synthetic nylon fiber; together with formaldehyde, phenol-formaldehyde resins are extracted from it.

Explosives, such as picric acid, are produced from phenol.

In addition, some phenols - hydroquinone, pyrocatechol and pyrogallol - are used in the production of chemicals for photographic processes.

Ethylene glycol and propylene glycol are used in the manufacture of antifreeze for cars, in the production of solvents (dioxane, carbitols), they are contained in brake fluid. Nitric acid ester (dinitroglycol) is an explosive. Ethylene glycol is also used in the production of plastics and polyester fibers.

Glycerin is used in the paper, printing, perfume and pharmaceutical industries. It is contained in brake fluid, plasticizers, alkyd and epoxy varnishes. Its ester with nitric acid (nitroglycerol) is an extremely explosive substance, and its 1% solution is used as a medicine for cardiovascular diseases.

worldofscience.ru

Among the various alcohol-containing substances, the most popular in medicine is the standard medical one. The substance is used in almost all areas of medicine due to its characteristic properties. It is ideal for disinfection during operations and other procedures requiring sterility. But, you need to understand that medical alcohol is a common and freely sold component. But if used incorrectly, it can lead to alcoholism and a number of other problems. You can read more about this problem and methods for solving it on the website alcogolizm.com. In the meantime, we will return specifically to medical alcohol and its characteristics.

Based on its smell and color characteristics, without specialized equipment, it is almost impossible to determine medical from technical (methyl - not suitable for use in principle) under certain conditions. Among other things, remember that technical language should never be used exclusively. This can lead to a very sad outcome. Ethyl alcohol is not so poisonous and, if consumed in limited quantities, serious problems can be avoided. Medical alcohol is considered to be one of the most common types of ethanol. The composition of alcohol used in medicine usually includes the purest product (approximately 96%) without the presence of all kinds of impurities, as well as 4% water.

In fact, medical alcohol began to be actively used not only for its direct purpose, but also in food and a number of other industries. In everyday life, alcohol can be used as an alcoholic substance if diluted with water without fail. The result is alcohol with a strength of 40%. Medical alcohol is sold in packages of various volumes. The liquid itself is visually transparent. The main difference between medical alcohol and technical alcohol is the raw materials used in the manufacturing process. In the first case, it is of plant origin. In the second, the raw materials are synthetic substances. Most often this is the hydrolysis of petroleum products or wood. As a rule, the latter is used exclusively as a solvent or fuel.

It is necessary to clearly understand that drinking ethyl alcohol can cause certain consequences for your body. Accordingly, you also need to use medical alcohol consciously. Its main purpose is disinfection. It is not advisable to use this alcohol internally in a diluted form. This can lead to serious consequences. Remember that you yourself are responsible for your health and decide whether to drink diluted ethyl or not.

Sincerely,

popular-medicine.rf

Ethanol has extremely wide application in medicine, where it has its own name: medical antiseptic solution - a medicine containing ethanol alcohol in a concentration of 95-96% (4-5% water), used as a universal local antiseptic and vasodilator. In addition, it has a huge number of uses:

• — in terms of its action, ethyl alcohol can be classified as an antiseptic;
• — as a disinfectant and drying agent, externally;
• — the drying and tanning properties of 96% ethyl alcohol are used to treat the surgical field or in some techniques for treating the surgeon’s hands;
• — solvent for medicines, for the preparation of tinctures, extracts from plant materials, etc.;
• — preservative for tinctures and extracts (minimum concentration 18%);
• — defoamer when supplying oxygen, artificial ventilation;


• - in warm compresses;
• - for physical cooling during fever (for rubbing);
• — a component of general anesthesia in situations of shortage of medications;
• - as an antifoam agent for pulmonary edema in the form of inhalation of a 33% solution;
• - Ethanol is an antidote for poisoning with certain toxic alcohols, such as methanol and ethylene glycol. Its action is due to the fact that the enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase, in the presence of several substrates (for example, methanol and ethanol), carries out only competitive oxidation, due to which, after timely (almost immediate, following methanol/ethylene glycol) intake of ethanol, the current concentration of toxic metabolites decreases (for methanol - formaldehyde and formic acid, for ethylene glycol - oxalic acid).

As a medicine, ethanol has a number of indications:

Treatment of the initial stages of diseases: boil, panaritium, mastitis; treatment of the surgeon's hands (Furbringer, Alfred methods), surgical field (including in persons with hypersensitivity to other antiseptics, in children and during operations on areas with thin skin in adults - neck, face). Conservation of biological material, production of dosage forms for external use, tinctures, extracts. As a local irritant.

Medical antiseptic solution is used externally. Apply to the skin using cotton swabs or napkins. To treat the surgical field and preoperative disinfection of the surgeon’s hands, use a 70% solution; for compresses and rubdowns (to avoid burns), it is recommended to use a 40% solution. The 95% solution must be diluted to the required concentrations and used according to indications.

Ethanol for medical and food purposes must also be used with extreme caution, taking appropriate precautions. For medicine they are:

Medical antiseptic solution should be used externally only! Use in accordance with concentrations. For compresses (to avoid burns) should be used in a concentration of 40%. When applied externally, it is partially absorbed through the skin and mucous membranes, which must be taken into account when using it in children.

In conclusion, it is worth mentioning the need to observe proper storage conditions for the solution: store in a cool place, in a well-closed container, away from sources of fire. Shelf life: 5 years. Use no later than the date indicated on the package.

med-spirt.ru

Ethanol is a colorless volatile liquid with a characteristic odor, a burning taste and can be mixed with water in any proportions. Ethanol has a density of 0.813–0.816, and the boiling point of this substance is 77–77.5 °C.

Contrary to popular misconception, wine alcohol is used not only as alcohol and a component for the production of alcoholic beverages. In the section “use of ethyl alcohol” you can read that ethanol plays an important role in our lives, being an integral component of various substances in the chemical, food, perfume, fuel, leather, and electronics industries.

In this article I would like to dwell in more detail on the role of ethanol in medicine, since this industry is directly related to the most precious thing - human health.

In the medical industry, purified 96% or 70% ethyl alcohol is usually used: it is also called medical. We could endlessly list specific examples of the use of ethanol in medicine, however, we will focus on the most common ones:

• The first, and main, area of ​​​​use of ethanol in medicine is as an antiseptic. A 40% solution is rarely, however, used to disinfect the surgeon’s hands and the surgical field. A solution with a higher ethanol content (70-96%) is used in the disinfection of medical instruments. In addition, ethanol is, in its own way, a type of poison in which bacteria quickly die. That is why, before taking a blood test from a finger or vein, doctors wipe the collection site with a cotton swab soaked in alcohol;


• Ethanol fights burns well. One of the physical properties of alcohol is its high volatility, due to which ethanol can quickly cool the affected surface, reduce pain and prevent the formation of blisters;
• With the help of alcohol, doctors can quickly reduce the patient's body temperature. Alcohol has excellent antipyretic properties and, when rubbed on the body, cools it well;
• Ethanol can be used as a preservative for tinctures and extracts - at a minimum concentration of 18%;
• Ethyl alcohol is an integral component of general anesthesia in case of a shortage of medications;
• For methanol or ethylene glycol poisoning, ethyl alcohol can serve as an antidote;
• Rubbing alcohol is used in warming compresses;

Thus, the scope of application of medical alcohol is quite wide and there is nothing to replace it with.

himzakaz.net

History of discovery

Intoxicating drinks, which contain ethanol - monohydric wine alcohol, have been familiar to mankind since ancient times. They were made from honey and fermented fruits. In ancient China, rice was also added to drinks.

Alcohol from wine was obtained in the East (VI-VII centuries). European scientists created it from fermentation products in the 11th century. The Russian royal court became acquainted with it in the 14th century: the Genoese embassy presented it as living water (“aqua vita”).

THOSE. Lovitz, a Russian scientist of the 18th century, was the first to experimentally obtain absolute ethyl alcohol by distillation using potash - potassium carbonate. The chemist suggested using charcoal for cleaning.

Thanks to the scientific achievements of the 19th and 20th centuries. The global use of alcohols became possible. Scientists of the past developed a theory of the structure of aqueous-alcohol solutions and studied their physicochemical properties. Fermentation methods were discovered: cyclic and continuous flow.

Significant inventions of chemical science of the past, which made the beneficial properties of alcohols real:

• Barbe ratification apparatus (1881)
• Saval's distillation plate apparatus (1813)
• Gentse's boiler (1873)

A homologous series of alcoholic substances was discovered. A series of experiments on the synthesis of methanol and ethylene glycol were carried out. Advanced scientific research in the post-war years of the 20th century helped improve the quality of products. We raised the level of the domestic alcohol industry.

Distribution in nature

In nature, alcohols occur in free form. The substances are also components of esters. The natural fermentation process of carbohydrate-containing foods creates ethanol, as well as 1-butanol and isopropanol. Alcohols in the baking industry, brewing, and winemaking are associated with the use of the fermentation process in these industries. Most insect pheromones are alcohols.

Alcohol derivatives of carbohydrates in nature:

• sorbitol - found in rowan and cherry berries, has a sweet taste.

Many plant aromatic substances are terpene alcohols:

• fenhol - a component of fennel fruits, coniferous tree resins
• borneol - a constituent element of the wood of the borneocamphor tree
• menthol is a component of geranium and mint composition

Bile of humans and animals contains bile polyhydric alcohols:

• mixinol
• chimerol
• bufol
• cholestanpenthol

Harmful effects on the body

The widespread use of alcohols in agriculture, industry, military affairs, and transport makes them accessible to ordinary citizens. This causes acute, including mass, poisonings and deaths.

The dangers of methanol

Methanol is a dangerous poison. It has a toxic effect on the heart and nervous system. Ingestion of 30 g of methanol leads to death. Ingestion of a smaller amount of the substance causes severe poisoning with irreversible consequences (blindness).

Its maximum permissible concentration in the air at work is 5 mg/m³. Liquids containing even a minimal amount of methanol are dangerous.

In mild forms of poisoning, symptoms appear:

• chills
• general weakness
• nausea
• headache

Methanol tastes and smells no different from ethanol. This causes the poison to be ingested by mistake. How to distinguish ethanol from methanol at home?

Copper wire is rolled into a spiral and heated strongly over a fire. When it interacts with ethanol, the smell of rotten apples is felt. Contact with methanol will trigger an oxidation reaction. Formaldehyde will be released - a gas with an unpleasant, pungent odor.

Ethanol toxicity

Ethanol acquires toxic and narcotic properties depending on the dose, route of entry into the body, concentration, and duration of exposure.

Ethanol can cause:

• disruption of the central nervous system
• cancer of the esophagus, stomach
• gastritis
• cirrhosis of the liver
• heart diseases

4-12 g of ethanol per 1 kg of body weight is a lethal single dose. Acetaldehyde, the main metabolite of ethanol, is a carcinogenic, mutagenic, toxic substance. It changes cell membranes, the structural characteristics of red blood cells, and damages DNA. Isopropanol is similar to ethanol in toxic effects.

The production of alcohols and their circulation are regulated by the state. Ethanol is not legally recognized as a drug. But its toxic effect on the body has been proven.

The effect on the brain is especially destructive. Its volume decreases. Organic changes occur in the neurons of the cerebral cortex, their damage and death. Capillary ruptures occur.

The normal functioning of the stomach, liver, and intestines is disrupted. Excessive consumption of strong alcohol causes acute pain and diarrhea. The mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract is damaged, and bile stagnates.

Inhalation effects of alcohols

The widespread use of alcohols in many industries creates a threat of their inhalation effects. Toxic effects were studied in rats. The results obtained are shown in the table.

Food industry

Ethanol is the basis of alcoholic beverages. It is obtained from sugar beets, potatoes, grapes, cereals - rye, wheat, barley, and other raw materials containing sugar or starch. During the production process, modern technologies for purifying fusel oils are used.

They are divided into:

• strong with an ethanol share of 31-70% (cognac, absinthe, rum, vodka)
• medium strength - from 9 to 30% ethanol (liqueurs, wines, liqueurs)
• low alcohol - 1.5-8% (cider, beer).

Ethanol is the raw material for natural vinegar. The product is obtained by oxidation with acetic acid bacteria. Aeration (forced saturation with air) is a necessary condition for the process.

Ethanol is not the only alcohol in the food industry. Glycerin - food additive E422 - provides the connection of immiscible liquids. It is used in the manufacture of confectionery, pasta, and bakery products. Glycerin is a component of liqueurs, giving drinks a viscosity and sweet taste.

The use of glycerin has a beneficial effect on products:

• Pasta stickiness decreases
• the consistency of sweets and creams improves
• prevents rapid staleness of bread and sagging of chocolate
• Products are baked without starch sticking

The use of alcohols as sweeteners is common. Mannitol, xylitol, and sorbitol are suitable for this purpose.

Perfumes and cosmetics

Water, alcohol, perfume composition (concentrate) are the main components of perfume products. They are used in different proportions. The table presents the types of perfumes and the proportions of the main components.

In the production of perfumery products, highly purified ethanol acts as a solvent for fragrant substances. When reacting with water, salts are formed which precipitate. The solution settles for several days and is filtered.

2-phenylethanol replaces natural rose oil in the perfume and cosmetics industry. The liquid has a light floral scent. Included in fantasy and flower compositions, cosmetic milks, creams, elixirs, lotions.

The main base of many care products is glycerin. It is able to attract moisture, actively moisturize the skin, and make it elastic. Dry, dehydrated skin benefits from creams, masks, and soaps with glycerin: it creates a moisture-saving film on the surface and keeps the skin soft.

There is a myth: that using alcohol in cosmetics is harmful. However, these organic compounds are stabilizers, carriers of active substances, and emulsifiers necessary for the production of products.

Alcohols (especially fatty ones) make care products creamy and soften skin and hair. Ethanol in shampoos and conditioners moisturizes, evaporates quickly after washing your hair, and makes combing and styling easier.

Medicine

Ethanol is used in medical practice as an antiseptic. It destroys microbes, prevents decomposition in open wounds, and delays painful changes in the blood.

Its drying, disinfecting, tanning properties are the reason for using it to treat the hands of medical personnel before working with a patient. During artificial ventilation, ethanol is indispensable as an antifoam. If there is a shortage of medications, it becomes a component of general anesthesia.

In case of poisoning with ethylene glycol or methanol, ethanol becomes an antidote. After taking it, the concentration of toxic substances decreases. Ethanol is used in warming compresses and when rubbing for cooling. The substance restores the body during feverish heat and colds.

Alcohols in medicines and their effects on humans are studied by the science of pharmacology. Ethanol as a solvent is used in the production of extracts and tinctures of medicinal plant materials (hawthorn, pepper, ginseng, motherwort).

These liquid medicines should only be taken after medical advice. You must strictly follow the dosage prescribed by your doctor!

Fuel

The commercial availability of methanol, butanol-1, ethanol is the reason for their use as fuel. Mixed with diesel fuel, gasoline, used as fuel in its pure form. The mixtures help reduce the toxicity of exhaust gases.

Alcohol, as an alternative source of fuel, has its disadvantages:

• substances have increased corrosive characteristics, unlike hydrocarbons
• If moisture gets into the fuel system, there will be a sharp decrease in power due to the solubility of substances in water
• there is a risk of vapor locks and deterioration of engine performance due to low boiling points of substances.

However, gas and oil resources are finite. Therefore, the use of alcohols in world practice has become an alternative to the use of conventional fuel. Their mass production is being established from industrial waste (pulp and paper, food, woodworking) - at the same time the problem of recycling is being solved.

Industrial processing of plant raw materials makes it possible to obtain environmentally friendly biofuel - bioethanol. The raw materials for it are corn (USA), sugar cane (Brazil).

The positive energy balance and renewable fuel resource make bioethanol production a popular area of ​​the global economy.

Solvents, surfactants

In addition to the production of cosmetics, perfumes, liquid medicines, and confectionery, alcohols are also good solvents:

Alcohol as a solvent:

• in the manufacture of metal surfaces, electronic elements, photographic paper, photographic films
• when cleaning natural products: resins, oils, waxes, fats
• in the process of extraction - extracting a substance
• when creating synthetic polymeric materials (glue, varnish), paints
• in the production of medical and household aerosols.

Popular solvents are isopropanol, ethanol, methanol. Polyhydric and cyclic substances are also used: glycerin, cyclohexanol, ethylene glycol.

Surfactants are produced from higher fatty alcohols. Complete care of your car, dishes, apartments, and clothes is possible thanks to surfactants. They are part of cleaning products and detergents and are used in many sectors of the economy (see table).

Industry	Surfactants: functions, properties
Agriculture	Included in emulsions; increase the productivity of the process of transferring nutrients to plants
Construction	Reduce water demand for concrete and cement mixtures; increase frost resistance and density of materials
Leather industry	Prevents sticking and damage to products
Textile industry	Remove static electricity
Metallurgy	Reduce friction; able to withstand high temperatures
Paper industry	Separate boiled pulp from ink during used paper recycling
Paint industry	Enables complete penetration of paint onto surfaces, including small recesses

The use of alcohols in the food industry, medicine, the production of perfumes and cosmetics, use as fuel, solvents, and surfactants has a positive effect on the state of the country’s economy. It brings convenience to a person’s life, but requires compliance with safety precautions due to the toxicity of the substances.

Some people constantly wonder whether alcohol can be treated. Isn't this a controversial and unusual formulation of the problem? Currently, scientists have no doubt that ethanol is a narcotic psychoactive poison, but other poisons are also successfully used in small doses as medicines...

Alcohol instead of medicine, is it justified?

Medicine has been trying to explain to people for several decades that alcoholic beverages are dangerous in any quantity. On the other hand, if alcohol is a drug, then why is it practically freely sold? Moreover, what to do with various alcohol tinctures, whose medicinal effect in the treatment of various diseases is beyond any doubt.

At the everyday level, ordinary people also have no doubt that alcohol can be successfully used as a medicine, and the range of its use for such purposes is unusually wide. For example, with the help of different doses of alcoholic drinks, people sometimes try to achieve completely opposite effects. If you don’t believe me, then think for yourself what people most often drink to relax, alcoholic drinks, and to cheer up and feel a surge of energy... coffee, tea and also wine most often. Let's go further, they drink to calm down, and to stimulate the nervous system, to make it easier to talk, not to be shy and to relax - we can continue further, but everything is already obvious.

Alcohol consumption is shrouded in myths, because along with traditional and other symptoms from drinking alcohol, there are also individual sensations that arise in each individual person in their own way. This is probably why there are people who prefer to be treated with alcohol over any other methods of therapy.

From a radical, somewhat utopian position, it is generally useful for people to give up drinking alcoholic beverages, because exogenous ethanol, that is, ethyl alcohol that enters the human body from the outside, is not needed at all and is dangerous precisely because of the narcotic psychoactive effect. Indeed, the body itself produces endogenous alcohol and completely covers its needs.

How to have a hangover, does it make sense?

Low culture of tolerance, public opinion and some other reasons have led to the emergence of stereotypes according to which, in reality, there is a need to be treated specifically for alcohol addiction... Against this background, requests for finding the optimal way to get a hangover look especially funny and curious, apparently in response to the folk wisdom “wedge with wedge.” they kick you out." How many mythical recipes exist, what exactly and, that is, what is better than beer, wine or a glass of vodka in the morning, but let’s leave this slippery topic. Now it will be clear why - there is a so-called placebo effect, that is, healing from something from which it is impossible, but occurs solely due to the belief that this particular remedy helps. If a person believes in treatment, then it can help him, even if it is completely useless and even harmful, within certain limits, of course. On the other hand, a healthy person, after abusing alcohol, the next morning experiences a complete distaste for it; the smell, sight, taste of alcohol vomits, makes him sick, and literally makes him vomit. But for alcoholics in a state of withdrawal syndrome, silent alcohol really helps alleviate the condition, albeit for a very short time and with its further inevitable deterioration.

Now it’s better to return to the main topic, namely how to treat with alcohol. The fact that drinks containing alcohol can be excellent medicines has not yet been completely refuted. Of course, it won’t be possible to completely recover from a specific illness, but still. But is the alcohol content really that important? Does it play a key role in the medicinal effects of these drinks?
Absolutely all experts are unanimous in the opinion that the use of alcoholic beverages for medicinal purposes must be done in a strict dosage, since excess for therapeutic purposes is completely inappropriate, all meaning is lost when this “medicine” is abused.

Methods of treating various diseases with the help of wine that have come from time immemorial are called eniotherapy or enotherapy. In any case, it is recommended for therapeutic use to use exclusively natural wines with a high content of magnesium, phosphorus, calcium salts, as well as tannins.

The use of wine for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract
High-quality wines, as a rule, are distinguished by a significant content of phosphorus, calcium, and magic compounds, due to which they can have a tonic effect on the lining of the gastrointestinal tract. That is, a small amount of wine can stimulate peristalsis, which in turn promotes faster and more complete digestion. As it turned out, it is not by chance that they drink a glass of another dry red wine for lunch and dinner, and the French are completely right about this. Representatives of this nation differ from other Europeans in that they are less overweight. It was in France that the so-called wine diets were proposed. French nutritionist Montignac recommends 2 glasses of dry wine a day.

Positive effects of red wine on the circulatory system

The beneficial effects of wine on blood vessels have recently been questioned among leading scientists. Although alcohol promotes the dilation of blood vessels, on the other hand, it provokes the gluing of red blood cells, which primarily clog small vessels and capillaries. Yes, the polyphenolic compounds contained in natural wine can effectively fight the initial stages of the formation of atherosclerosis and effectively prevent blood clots, but only with strictly limited consumption of these noble high-quality alcoholic beverages and no others. But you can save on the need to use expensive medications in other ways, especially since high-quality wine is also not cheap. As is known, red table wines are richer in phenolic substances. Preventing the deposition of cholesterol on artery walls is one of the proven positive effects of moderate consumption of high-quality wines.
And if we take into account the expansion of the diameter of the coronary arteries and the counteraction of vascular contractions from stress, the preventive benefits of high-quality wine cannot be denied.

Vodka as a remedy

Many alcoholic drinks were originally created as medicine and were sold exclusively in pharmacies. Thus, liqueur, cognac, and the traditional Russian drink - vodka - were conceived. In Rus' in the 14th century, treatment with vodka was actively practiced, but now the therapeutic effect of vodka has been almost completely refuted.

• For acute respiratory viral infections, acute respiratory infections, and even more so for viral diseases, treatment with vodka only increases the recovery period. The traditional recipe for drinking vodka with pepper should be considered untrue, when when the first signs of illness appear at night, they are completely cured. In the morning, the flu and acute respiratory infections will not go away, but will only get worse.
• Vodka can only be successfully used as a base in various medicinal infusions, thanks to its high extracting properties. But in the right mind, even before, at the dawn of the development of medicine, it was not prescribed to patients with serious illnesses
• You can treat with vodka externally: for insect bites, muscle strains, nettle burns and other skin irritations. In emergency cases, it is possible to use vodka as an anesthetic when there are no other painkillers; this can help avoid painful shock.

The conclusion is obvious: alcohol cannot be considered a drug in itself, even in moderate quantities. All therapeutic effects can be achieved in other safer ways; the use of the same biologically active substances and additives at the modern level more than covers all treatment possibilities with the best wines. The risk of alcoholism negates all the advantages of alcohol, of which there are not so many, and there are none at all that are exclusive.

Similar articles