Drinkers are tempted to drink alcohol before donating blood, what foods are allowed before visiting the hospital?
So that the results of the examination are not distorted and correspond to reality, it is necessary to observe a series 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.
How can alcohol affect
Does alcohol affect the blood test and how to properly prepare for the test? 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, proper preparation for taking blood samples and compliance with all the recommendations of the attending physician is a very important step that affects the outcome and must be taken seriously. The speed of recovery of the patient, the methods of treatment that the doctor prescribes directly depend on the results of the study. Therefore, to the questions of whether it is possible to donate blood after alcohol or whether it is possible to drink beer before donating blood, there must be an unequivocal answer: no. Alcohol should not be drunk before donating blood.
Usually a specialist warns the patient that blood is drawn on an empty stomach in the morning, and even coffee and tea should not be consumed. However, some patients do not always follow the recommendations and may drink beer or other alcoholic beverages before testing.
How does ethyl alcohol get into the bloodstream? It causes chemical transformations and has various effects on the body:
- there is a decrease in glucose levels, an effect on blood sugar;
- increases the content of uric acid;
- increases the lactate content in plasma;
- they also change a number of other chemicals in the blood and urine.
Drinking alcohol can significantly distort your test results, and in the best case scenario, you will have to take the time to re-pass the test. Alcohol also affects urinalysis.
How to Prepare for the Exam
What foods and drinks should not be taken before donating blood?
Experts strongly recommend the following points in preparation for the study. The person who is going to pass the test must know them:
- refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages 48, and ideally 72 hours before the blood donation takes place;
- if a person drank alcohol before the analysis (even accidentally), it is recommended to refuse the hospital visit 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, the use of sugar (and all foods that contain sugar), as well as fried, spicy and fatty foods are prohibited; this can negatively affect the test;
- you should try to avoid stressful situations: you know their negative impact on the result of the analysis;
- refrain from smoking 1-2 hours before donating blood.
Analysis of sugar and the effect of alcohol on your results.
The use of beverages and preparations containing ethanol when tested for sugar is strictly prohibited. This is especially true in diabetes mellitus. The point is that alcohol affects the liver. As a result, the breakdown products of ethanol enter the blood and urine, radically distorting the research results. The ethyl alcohol molecule is actively involved in the body's metabolism, and as a result, glucose is formed. Hence arises the distortion of the result.
In addition to affecting the liver, ethanol can react chemically with medical instruments, resulting in the production of foreign chemicals that negatively affect research.
Ethanol can significantly reduce the amount of glucose in the blood for a time, as it interferes with glucose production in the liver. For this reason, a false suspicion of diabetes mellitus may arise.
If you do not want to waste time and money on passing the exam again, read the preparation rules carefully and completely exclude alcohol from the diet, even those drinks in which there is a minimal amount of ethanol, because they are not the best. affect the reliability of the results.
In some cases, a person is sent to investigate spontaneously, 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 center for a test to prevent injuries on the job. In such cases, a urine test for alcohol may also be done.
In some companies, the employee is given a medical examination before entering the workplace. These are typically companies where workers are responsible for people's lives or operate equipment that can have serious consequences if not used properly.
Such tests do not require special training, only a sample of biomaterial is performed. A blood alcohol content of 0. 2 ppm is considered harmful to the body and 0. 5 ppm is a lethal dose.