Consequence of Use of Alcoholic Beverages in Modern Life-Style and Remedy with Yoga and Ayurveda

According to Ayurveda

Drugs possessing tamoguna predominantly and cause derangement of mind are called as “Madakari” (intoxicants) for example – Sura, Madya (Alcohal) [4].

Effects of Madya on Oja [5]: Madya effects heart by counteracting the ojas by its ten qualities with the ten qualities of alcohol itself.

• Laghu (lightness) with Guru (heaviness)
• Ushna (heat) with Sheeta (coolness)
• Amla (sourness) with Madhura (sweetness)
• Tikshna (sharpness) with Mardava (softness)
• Ashukari (fast action) with Prasada (lucidity)
• Ruksha (roughness) with Snigdha (unctuousness)
• Vyavayi (ability to pervade) with Sthira (stability)
• Vikasi (expanding) with Slakshna (smoothness)
• Vishada (non-slimy) with Picchila (slimy)
• Bahala (viscous) with Sukshma (tiny)

Approximate Percentage of Alcohol

Absolute alcohol contains 99.95% of ethanol [6] (Table 1)

Various Country Liquors

• Mahua: Traditional tribal drink in central and eastern India. It is made from dried flower of mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia) and chhowa gud (granular mollasses) [8].
• Toddy (palm wine) is made from sap of various species of palm tree. It is common across Asia and Africa.
• Feni: Goan spirit, made from coconut or juice of cashew apple.
• Arrack (Arabic araq—sweet liquor usually made from raisins in those regions) is distilled from coco-palm, rice, sugar or jaggery and has strength of 40-50%. It may be mixed with chloral hydrate or potassium bromide.
• Tharra is made by fermenting the mash of sugarcane juice/pulp in ceramic containers and distilling to high alcohol content.
• Chhaang (Tibetan: ‘nectar of gods’) is a Tibetan/Sherpa rice beer, also popular in parts of eastern Himalayas. It is can be brewed from barley and millet stuffed in a barrel of bamboo, over which water is poured. Handia: It is made by fermenting boiled rice mixed with herbs. Commonly seen in Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, MP and Chhatisgarh.
• Chuak is made by fermenting rice in water, common in Tripura.
• Sonti is made much like sake and similar to wine in its alcohol content. It is made by steaming rice. A mold, Rhizopus sonti, is used, followed by fermentation.

Consequences of Alcohol Misuse

Stages of Mada (intoxication) [9]

• Prthama Mada – the early stage of Mada starts when it spreads up to the heart but Ojas is not disturbed.
• Madhyama Mada – In the middle stage Ojas gets disturbed.
• Uttama Mada – In the later stage there is severe disturbance to the Ojas

Characteristics of Intoxication of Alcohol

Samanya Mada Lakshna (Characteristic Features of Mada): The heart gets affected resulting in Harsha (exhilaration), Tarsha or Abhilasha (excessive desire), Rati (sexual pleasure) and other Rajas and Tamas disorders leads to the nature depending upon the mental attitude of the person concluding in Moha Nidra. This mental perversion caused by alcohol is called Mada [10].

Prathama Mada lakshan (First Stage of Intoxication): Exhilarating, passion, invokes instrumental and vocal music, different enterinment and narrative stories. Neither effects the intellect or memory, not lead to incapability of the senses. The pattern of sleep and awakening is restored and overall enjoying the phase.

Madhyama Mada (Second Stage of Intoxication): Memory gets affected, causes confusion, indistinct speech, irrelevant talk, rambling postures.

Madyama Uttama Mada Sandhikala lakshna (In Between Stage of Second and Third Stage Intoxication): The individual with Rajas and Tamas predominance behaves unpleasantly and inappropriately without any consideration.

Uttama Mada (Third Stage of Intoxication): Body become static like a torn wood, mind is confused, similar to a dead but still alive. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine

Nutritional Effect of Alcohol

Alcohol supplies calories, but devoid of nutrients such as minerals, vitamins and proteins. Alcohol also interfere with absorption of vitamins in the small intestine and decrease their storage in the liver with modest effect on folate (folic acid), pyridoxine (B6), nicotinic acid (B3) and Vitamin A [11]. a heavy alcohol load in a fasting, healthy individual is likely to produce hypoglycemia within 6-36hours, secondary to the acute action of ethanol on gluconeogenesis. Alcoholism and its Features According to J.P.Modi [12]. According to its toxic effect Alcoholism can be classified into two categories i) Acute and ii) Chronic. Acute poisoning includes three stages a) Stage of excitement, b) Stage of stupor, c) Stage of coma

Chronic Features

Habitual drunkards claim that the alcohol decreases the stresses and strains of life. Due to taking alcohol for a long and continuous period, they suffer from many organic diseases. Some develop dipsomania, an irresistible desire to take large amounts of alcohol until become unconscious. This habit recurs shorter and shorter intervals, mostly there is some psychological basis of some distressing event in the patient’s past life. Patient develops loss of appetite, vomiting, nutritional deficiency, impaired hepatic function. Alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver is a major problem. There may be cognitive defects, impaired mental functions and neurological damages

Acute Intoxication Emotional and Behavioral Disturbance

• Medical problems: hypoglycemia, aspiration of vomit, respiratory depression.
• Complicating other medical problems.
• Accidents and injuries sustained in fights [13]

Withdrawal Phenomena

• Psychological symptoms ; restlessness, anxiety, panic attacks
• Autonomic symptoms ; tachycardia, sweating, pupil dilatation, nausea, vomiting
• Delirium tremens ; agitation, hallucination, illusions, delusions
• Seizures

Medical Consequences

• Neurological; peripheral neuropathy, cerebellar degeneration, cerebral haemorrhage, dementia,
• Hepatic; fatty change and cirrhosis, liver cancer
• Gastrointestinal; oesophagitis, gastritis, pancreatitis, oesophageal cancer, Mallory-Weiss syndrome, malabsorption, oesophageal varices
• Respiratory; pulmonary TB, pneumonia
• Skin; spider naevi, palmar erythema, Dupuytren’s contractures, telangictasiae
• Cardiac; cardiomyopathy, hypertension
• Musculoskeletal; myopathy, fractures
• Endocrine and metabolic; pseudo-Cushing syndrome, hypoglycaemia, gout
• Reproductive; hypogonadism, fetal alcohol syndrome, infertility

Psychiatric and Cerebral Consequences

• Depression
• Alcoholic hallucinosis
• Alcoholic blackouts
• Wernicke’s encephalopathy; nystagmus, ophthalamoplegia, ataxia, confusion
• Korsakoff’s syndrome; short-term memory deficits, confabulation

Social Consequences of Alcoholism

It is also seen that due to alcohol consumption by the family head, it effects the family and becomes ruins economically, socially, physically and mentally especially in middle class and poor families. Use of alcohol causes a large disease, social and economic burden. Alcohol intoxication is strongly linked to accidents, injuries, deaths, domestic conflict and violence. Alcohol consumption affect work performances in several ways like more absences in workplace, increases accidents during work, heavy drinking reduces work performance and productivity of the person. This causes more economic loss to the country. Family life is also disturbed by alcohol. Parental drinking lead to child abuse and numerous other impact of the child’s social, psychological and economic environment. The financial cost of alcohol purchase and medical treatment as well as lost wages can leave other family members destitute. Further it cannot be ignored that due chronic alcoholism, the marriage life also may be disturbed due to impaired sexual gratification and consequently divorce between the couple occurs.

Yogasanas

• Padmasana
• Vajrasana
• Tadasana
• Trikonasana
• Padahastasana
• Ardhachakrasana
• Sarvangasana
• Shirshasana
• Shavasana

All Types of Pranayama (Breathing Practices)

Dhyana (Meditation): These yogasanas causes smooth contraction and relaxation of muscles without jerk leading to expenditure of energy, which increases the vital force, enhance the concentration power, induce mental calmness, and enhance the pain tolerance capacity.

Pranayama (Breathing Exercise): Increases consumption of oxygen with the minimum of physical exertion. Pranayama has a great beneficial effect on the Nervous system. Mind becomes calm and quite. Dhyana or Meditation increases concentration power and reduces mental stress by giving maximum rest to the Nervous system.