Alcoholemia: what maximum dose of alcohol can the body withstand?

The world blood alcohol record goes to a Pole in his thirties, found in a ditch in an advanced state of intoxication with 13.7 grams ofalcohol in the blood. Which means that his blood was loaded with more alcohol than a glass of wine! A quite exceptional record, when we know that a rate of 4 g per liter of blood can cause an alcoholic coma and lead to death.

Lethal dose of alcohol

There is therefore no lethal dose of blood alcohol, each individual having a variable tolerance to alcohol. At equal weight, women react more strongly to alcohol, in particular because they have more fatty tissue, where the alcohol diffuses more quickly. It is estimated that an average glass for a woman is equivalent to one and a half glasses for men. There is also a genetic factor, with some people tolerating high doses of alcohol better than others. “It is estimated that with 1.5 grams of alcohol in the blood, 30% of the population would go into an alcoholic coma”, says Dr Philippe Batel, addictologist doctor at Beaujon Hospital (AP-HP) in Clichy in Le Figaro.

Habituation is another important phenomenon. A person accustomed to drinking alcohol regularly will tolerate large doses better. Alcohol has a security index of 10, which means you have to take 10 times the usual dose to cause a fatal overdose. Some medications can also affect the metabolism alcohol.
Intoxication is of course all the more likely as the alcohol is ingested within a short period of time. It is estimated that on an empty stomach, the blood alcohol level reaches its maximum 30 minutes after taking and then decreases from 0.10 g/l to 0.15 g/l per hour.

Death by alcohol poisoning

Alcohol poisoning has many consequences. Beyond 3 g of alcohol in the blood, the body temperature drops considerably, with a high risk of hypothermia. Decreased breathing can lead to respiratory arrest. The most important risk is alcoholic coma, with loss of consciousness where the patient chokes himself, either with his vomiting, or because his tongue falls into the back of the throat when he is on the back. Long-term, excessive alcohol consumption can cause a cirrhosis from liverbleeding from the mucous membranes of thestomach and intestines, heart problems, pancreatic cancerbrain damage that can lead to psychoses and depression.