# Drinking oneself to death **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990 "2013-04-29T06:00:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/1 "2013-04-29T06:00:45Z")
What exactly is the cause of death when someone drinks himself to death? I don’t mean something long-term like liver failure, but perhaps in minutes or hours. One of my former best friends died this way, and I’m just trying to understand what may have happened. ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/2 "2013-04-29T06:13:43Z")
Acute Alcohol Poisoning. Alcohol is a toxin - which is why we vomit if we are able to - it is the body’s way of survival. How your friend managed to et past the various defenses - vomit, unconsciousness (prevent additional intake until liver and kidneys can get rid of it), I don’t know - what was he or she was consuming, or how - obviously, an IV injection of 190 Everclear would take seconds to acquire a lethal dose People (story goes) have died via alcoholic enema. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/3 "2013-04-29T06:30:33Z")
It’s possible with spirits. IIRC ethanol is absorbed by the body best in a % range that is lower than the % of alcohol in most basic spirits (eg, Vodka or Whiskey) So, if someone was really drinking to get drunk, by drinking straight sprits quicly either by necking the bottle or doing lots of shots would mean you would get the alcohol into your stomach faster that it could get into your blood stream and make you drunk. This would mean that for a while after you finished drinking the alcohol you had already consumed would continue to be absorbed and you would get drunker as it catches up with you. Even if you collapsed and passed out, your blood alcohol level could continue to rise for a period of time. So sometimes, stopping drinking when you start to feel sick, is too late. ---
**Author:** ![bchris964](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@bchris964](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bchris964)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/4 "2013-04-29T06:41:30Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > What exactly is the cause of death when someone drinks himself to death? I don’t mean something long-term like liver failure, but perhaps in minutes or hours. > > One of my former best friends died this way, and I’m just trying to understand what may have happened. hello panache45, alcoholic drinks are harmful for human body because nature of alcoholic drink are toxic which infected our lungs and stomach at first. on the hand, drunked person can’t maintain yourself to perform daily activities. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/5 "2013-04-29T06:47:52Z")
My father-in-law, a lifelong alcoholic and _severely_ depressed, drank himself to death at age 72. The police found him on his kitchen floor, already dead for a day or two. A few hours after the body was found, the coronor told us that although the death certificate would list cause of death as “cardiac arrest”, we probably already knew that it was an alcohol overdose. Which we had in fact already suspected. It was not a surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2013, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/6 "2013-04-29T07:12:09Z")
In addition to the poisoning from the alcohol itself, if someone is very drunk they may vomit and choke to death if they are passed out on their back. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/7 "2013-04-30T02:42:44Z")
I’ve seen people drunk enough for their airway to be completly relaxed and their tongue to fall back into their throat. If this happened while laying face down you might be ok, but if you were face up you would smother, no actual vomiting would have been necessary. ---
**Author:** ![eightysix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@eightysix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eightysix)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/8 "2013-04-30T03:53:23Z")
Alcohol is a depressant. At as high enough blood level it depresses the function of the parts of the brain responsible for breathing below the level required to maintain life. ---
**Author:** ![\_Olive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/4af34b/32.png) [@\_Olive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Olive)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/9 "2013-04-30T03:56:27Z")
I know someone that just recently died from drinking himself to death. He was 61. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-oneself-to-death/656990/10 "2013-04-30T07:20:32Z")
[From here](http://www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/otheralcoholinformation/factsaboutalcoholpoisoning.aspx#WhatHappens): > [@](#): > > What Can Happen to Someone With Alcohol Poisoning That Goes Untreated? > > ``` > Victim chokes on his or her own vomit. > Breathing slows, becomes irregular, or stops. > Heart beats irregularly or stops. > Hypothermia (low body temperature). > Hypoglycemia (too little blood sugar) leads to seizures. > Untreated severe dehydration from vomiting can cause seizures, permanent brain damage, or death. > > ``` > > Even if the victim lives, an alcohol overdose can lead to irreversible brain damage. Rapid binge drinking (which often happens on a bet or a dare) is especially dangerous because the victim can ingest a fatal dose before becoming unconscious.