Health Leader, Dead Drunk

STORY BY

Anissa Anderson Orr

Every drunken college party has a day-after story, or two.

The sorority sister who passes out on the front lawn of the fraternity house. And doesn’t remember how she got there.

The drunken brawl after the homecoming game.

The two spring breakers who wake up—together—on a very public beach.

But, for some people, like University of Texas at Austin freshman Phanta "Jack" Phoummarath, there is no “day after.”

Phoummarath died on Dec. 10, 2005, after a night of heavy drinking with his fraternity brothers. The level of alcohol in his blood was almost .50 – nearly six times the legal limit.

Bulletproof boozers

High profile cases of alcohol poisoning are sobering reminders of what can happen if college students drink to excess.

“Students are young and healthy and think they are bulletproof,” says Dr. Scott Walters, assistant professor of behavioral sciences at The University of Texas School of Public Health and co-author of Talking with College Students About Alcohol: Motivational Strategies for Reducing Abuse.

“The students themselves also tend to overestimate the number of other college students who drink heavily,” he says. “In one study only 9 percent of college students thought they drank more than the average student.”

That’s important information for students who think they need to drink to fit in to the college lifestyle – or spring break beer bust. If you choose not to drink, you won’t be the only one drinking Diet Coke.

How much is too much?

Drinking 21 shots when you turn 21, for starters. Friends even supply a decorated birthday bucket to carry around for the nauseating aftermath, some students report. This new rite of passage for college students can raise a person’s blood alcohol concentration to .4, the level at which breathing stops.

Add to that any medications that the student has taken—even simple over-the-counter preparations for legitimate ailments—create a recipe for disaster.
For men, binge drinking is consuming five or more drinks in a short period of time. For women, binge drinking is consuming four or more drinks.

“What makes college drinking particularly risky is not that college students are drinking so much more alcohol than other adults,” Walters says. “It’s that students tend to save up their alcohol and drink it all at once.”

Students have developed elaborate drinking strategies, games and even tools in search of a quicker buzz. The “beer bong,” a funnel attached to a long hose, lets students guzzle a beer in a steady stream. To make this party staple work, one student pours alcohol through the funnel and the student on the other end of the hose sucks it down in seconds.

Drinking alcohol faster than the body can metabolize it can cause alcohol poisoning. Alcohol depresses nerves that control involuntary actions such as breathing, the heartbeat and the gag reflex (which prevents choking). A fatal dose of alcohol will eventually stop these functions. Many people who die of alcohol poisoning die from choking on their own vomit after they have passed out. A person’s blood alcohol content can continue to rise even while he or she is passed out.

Women have it worse

Women are at particular risk for the consequences of binge drinking. Not only are most women smaller than men, they also metabolize alcohol at a slower rate.

Birth control pills and the menstrual cycle also seem to affect how quickly alcohol is broken down. Women seem to stay drunk longer one week prior to menstruating than at other times of the month.

“Pound for pound, women are at a disadvantage when it comes to drinking,” Walters says.

Who drinks?

The rate of alcohol consumption among college students has stayed steady for the past 20 years, but the number of women who binge drink has increased greatly since the 1950s, when statistics on college drinking were first recorded. And not every student drinks heavily – one-third of college students don’t drink at all. Other college students report that they drink only moderately.

College students who are male, white and members of a fraternity or are team athletes are at highest risk for binge drinking. Women in sororities are close behind in risk. Each of these categories is a risk factor for binge drinking. The more categories a college student fits into, the more likely he or she will binge drink.

“For most students, drinking is part of social events,” Walters says. “The more friends people have and the more they enjoy being around people, the more likely they are to drink. If you are more social, you have more opportunities and offers to drink.”

Drink smarter

Spring break is a social occasion – to the extreme. Many spring break events revolve around alcohol, and encourage binge drinking. Walters suggests planning ahead and offers ways college students can drink more safely over the holiday:

Alternate alcoholic drinks with nonalcoholic drinks. Add a lemon or lime to your soft drink.
Agree to go out and come home with the same group of friends. The buddy system is especially important for women. Women are at a higher risk for sexual assault if they are alone.
Plan ahead how many drinks you will have, and decide how you will refuse additional drinks. Think of a couple of comebacks ahead of time to people who might push drinks on you, such as a simple: “No, thanks,” or “I’m the designated driver.”

Emergency help

Before going out with your buddies, learn how to take care of someone who has had too much too drink, and when to seek medical help. Symptoms of alcohol poisoning include confusion, stupor, vomiting, seizures and blue or pale skin. If your friend has more than one of these symptoms, call 911 for help. Many college students make the mistake of letting their friends just “sleep it off.” Tragically, they never wake up.

“The probability of dying from alcohol is low, but the stakes are high,” Walters says.

UPDATED: 3-01-2006