Sukant Khurana: Stopping The Carnage Of Illicit Hooch
Can We Stop The Carnage Of Illicit Hooch Through
Information And Timely Medical
Intervention?
By Brooks Robinson and
Sukant Khurana, Ph.D.
Within many batches
of hooch produced illegally reside substances that will
provide drinkers with the kick that they are looking for but
when contaminated, can also result in death. Such illicit
alcohol related deaths are not commonplace in all parts of
the world but a recurring occurrence in countries like India
and Russia. In India recently close to 200 people died of
such comtamination. Let us examine illicit liquor in India.
Illicit liquor in India is frequently added with additional
distilled alcohol and ammonium salt- called “Nausader”
in Hindi, to spike up the potency. If the additional alcohol
has methanol contamination, in significant amounts instead
of it being pure ethanol, poor victims end up paying the
price with their health and lives. Methanol can be produced
in the distillation process of alcohol produced from sugars,
if the distillation temperature is allowed to rise too high.
In industrial production, methanol is produced from
distillation of alcohol produced by fermenting wood. Ethanol
has many problems itself, but rarely causes mass deaths like
those recently witnessed in the Indian states of Gujarat and
West Bengal. The substance in question is called methanol.
The presence of methanol in hooch is usually unintended
result of carelessness because the makers of the illicit
alcohol will lose customers if it is known they produce
tainted product. For industrial purposes, methanol is used
in antifreezes, fuels, and solvents. It is also known as
wood alcohol because in the past, it was produced almost
exclusively as a byproduct of wood distillation. Methanol is
difficult to distinguish from ethanol because it smells and
tastes similar to ethanol, but is actually a little bit
sweeter. Consuming methanol however can have devastating
consequences.
Initially, a person who has consumed
methanol may feel effects similar to ethanol inebriation.
These effects however, will likely be accompanied with
nausea, vomiting, abdominal pains, and nervous system
depression that manifest in the form of decreased body
temperature as well as slower breathing and heart rates.
While these effects are unpleasant and potentially
life-threatening, they are similar to what one would
experience after drinking too much ethanol. If these
symptoms occur to you or someone near you professional
health-care assistance should be sought out. Methanol
poisoning is very treatable at this stage.
After the
initial acute effects of methanol, there is a period of
quiescence that can last anywhere between 10 and 30 hours.
It may seem as though the danger is passed, but this is
actually when the most deadly aspect of methanol poisoning
is beginning. The metabolism of a person who has consumed
methanol is breaking down the alcohol during this period.
The products of this metabolism are formaldehyde and
eventually formic acid, also known as formate. It is formic
acid that proves particularly toxic to the human body.
Increased acid levels in the blood and other body tissues
can cause severe symptoms anywhere in the spectrum of
temporary or permanent blindness, neurological disorders,
including Parkinson’s-like symptoms and even death. The
length and levels of this acid product strongly correlate
with lethality of methanol poisoning.
It is very important
to recognize these symptoms of methanol poisoning and seek
treatment as soon as possible. If the treatment begins in
time before high levels of acid are reached, the metabolism
of methanol can be blocked by simply the administration of
ethanol, the edible alcohol. The same enzymes are used to
metabolize both alcohols and this competitive inhibition
causes the more toxic methanol to be rather harmlessly
eliminated through the kidneys. Once acid levels in the
blood are elevated, more drastic measures are needed to
purify the blood such as hemodialysis.
If caught in
time, methanol poisoning is quite treatable and many lives
can be saved from recognition. This, however, is assuming
that adequate medical facilities are within reach.
Unfortunately this is often not the case in the rural sector
where healthcare can be nonexistent or lacking vital
diagnostic and treatment apparatuses. However, arming the
public with the knowledge about methanol poisoning, hundreds
of lives can potentially be saved each year across India.
After all with an incompetent government the buck really
stops with the private citizen.
Dr. Sukant Khurana is a New
York based scientist who is working on both basic and
applied side of many health issues. In collaboration with
Brooks Robinson, a neuroscientist working
on addiction, learning and memory, Dr. Khurana is exploring
issues of alcohol and addiction. Their public outreach
writings relevant to alcoholism are available at: https://sites.google.com/site/sukantkhurana2/
ENDS
