Drinkers are tempted to drink alcohol before donating blood, what food is allowed before visiting the hospital?
In order for the results of the examination not to be distorted and correspond to reality, it is necessary to observe a number of rules that the doctor usually brings to the patient. One of the most important requirements on the eve of blood tests is the absence of ethanol in it.
How Alcohol Can Affect
Does alcohol affect the blood test and how to properly prepare for the exam? A blood test is one of the most important, it allows you to assess the general condition of the body and make an accurate diagnosis, therefore, adequate preparation for blood sampling and adherence to all recommendations of the attending physician is a very step important that affects the outcome and should be taken seriously. The speed of the patient's recovery, the methods of treatment that the doctor prescribes directly depend on the results of the study. Therefore, when asked whether it is possible to donate blood after alcohol or whether it is possible to drink beer before donating blood, there should be an unequivocal answer: no. Alcohol should not be taken before donating blood.
Usually, a specialist warns the patient that blood is drawn on an empty stomach in the morning, and coffee and tea should also not be consumed. However, some patients do not always follow the recommendations and may drink beer or other alcohol before testing.
How does ethyl alcohol enter the bloodstream? It causes chemical transformations and has various effects on the organism:
- there is a decrease in glucose levels - an effect on blood sugar;
- the content of uric acid increases;
- the lactate content in plasma increases;
- it also changes a number of other chemicals in the blood and urine.
Drinking alcohol can skew the test results quite severely, and at best, you will need to spend time reviewing the test. Alcohol also affects urinalysis.
How the exam preparation should proceed
What foods and drinks shouldn't be taken before donating blood?
Experts strongly recommend the following points in preparation for the study. The person about to pass the test should know them:
- refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages 48, and ideally 72 hours before the blood donation is made;
- if a person drank alcohol before the analysis (even accidentally), it is recommended to refuse the visit to the hospital and postpone it to a later date;
- there are studies in which the use of alcohol is completely prohibited (these include tests for hepatitis, HIV, diabetes mellitus, tests for the content of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and some hormones);
- the day before visiting the clinic, it is forbidden to use sugar (and all foods containing sugar), as well as fried, spicy and fatty foods - this can adversely affect the test;
- you should try to avoid stressful situations: know their negative impact on the result of the analysis;
- refrain from smoking 1-2 hours before donating blood.
Analysis for sugar and the effect of alcohol on its results
The use of drinks and preparations containing ethanol when tested for sugar is strictly prohibited. This is especially true in diabetes mellitus. The point is, alcohol affects the liver. As a result, the breakdown products of ethanol enter the blood and urine, which radically distorts the research results. The ethyl alcohol molecule actively participates in the metabolism of the body and, as a result, glucose is formed. Hence the distortion of the result.
In addition to affecting the liver, ethanol can chemically react with medical tools, producing foreign chemicals that negatively affect research.
Ethanol can significantly reduce the amount of glucose in the blood for a while, as it interferes with the production of glucose in the liver. For this reason, a false suspicion of diabetes mellitus can arise.
If you do not want to waste time and money to retake the exam, read the preparation rules carefully and completely exclude alcohol from the diet, even those drinks in which there is a minimum amount of ethanol, because they do not do it in the best way affect the reliability of the results.
In some cases, a person is spontaneously sent to research, without preparation. This can happen, for example, in a workplace, when management suspects that an employee has consumed alcohol in the workplace and the employee may be referred to a health facility for a test to prevent workplace injury. In such cases, a urine test for alcohol may also be done.
In some companies, the employee must be examined before taking up the job. Usually these are businesses where workers are responsible for people's lives or use equipment that can lead to serious consequences if not properly used.
Such tests do not require special training - only a biomaterial sampling is performed. A blood alcohol content of 0. 2ppm is considered harmful to the body and 0. 5ppm is a lethal dose.