Drinkers are tempted to drink alcohol before donating blood. What foods are allowed before going to the hospital?
So that the test results are not falsified and correspond to reality, it is necessary to observe a number of rules that the doctor usually brings with him to the patient. One of the most important requirements on the eve of blood tests is the absence of ethanol.
How alcohol can affect
Does alcohol affect the blood test and how do you 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, proper preparation for blood collection and compliance with all the recommendations of the attending physician is a very important step that affects the result and should be taken seriously. The speed of recovery of the patient and the methods of treatment that the doctor prescribes directly depend on the results of the study. When asked whether it is possible to donate blood after the alcohol or whether it is possible to drink beer before the blood donation, there should be a clear answer - no. Alcohol must not be consumed before donating blood.
Usually a specialist warns the patient that blood is drawn on an empty stomach in the morning and that even coffee and tea should not be consumed. However, some patients do not always follow recommendations and may drink beer or other alcohol before taking tests.
How does ethyl alcohol get into the bloodstream? It causes chemical transformations and has several effects on the body:
- there is a decrease in the level of glucose - an effect on blood sugar;
- the content of uric acid increases;
- the lactate content in the plasma increases;
- a number of other chemicals in the blood and urine also change.
Alcohol consumption can greatly falsify the test results and in the best case scenario you will have to pass the test again. Alcohol also affects urinalysis.
How the exam preparation should work
What foods and drinks shouldn't be consumed before donating blood?
Experts strongly recommend the following points in preparation for the study. The person who will pass the test should know:
- 48, ideally 72 hours before the blood donation, abstain from alcoholic beverages;
- if a person has drunk alcohol (even accidentally) before the analysis, it is recommended to refuse the hospital visit and postpone it to a later date.
- there are studies that completely prohibit the consumption of alcohol (these include tests for hepatitis, HIV, diabetes mellitus, tests for the levels of calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and some hormones);
- the day before the visit to the clinic, the use of sugar (and all sugary foods), as well as fried, spicy and fatty foods is prohibited - this can affect the test;
- You should try to avoid stressful situations - you know about their negative effects on the analysis result;
- Do not smoke 1-2 hours before donating blood.
Analysis for sugar and the effect of alcohol on its results
The use of alcoholic beverages and preparations in sugar tests is strictly prohibited. This is especially true in the case of diabetes mellitus. The point is, alcohol affects the liver. As a result, ethanol breakdown products get into the blood and urine, which radically falsify the research results. The molecule of ethyl alcohol takes an active part in the body's metabolism, as a result of which glucose is formed. Hence, the result is distorted.
Not only can ethanol adversely affect the liver, but it can also react chemically with medical instruments, resulting in the production of foreign chemicals that adversely affect research.
Ethanol can significantly reduce the amount of glucose in the blood for a while because it disrupts glucose production in the liver. For this reason, a false suspicion of diabetes mellitus can arise.
If you do not want to waste time and money on re-passing the exam, carefully read the rules of preparation and completely exclude alcohol from the diet - even those drinks that contain a minimum content of ethanol, as they are not the bestQuality have an impact on the reliability of the results.
In some cases, a person is sent for an examination spontaneously and without preparation. This may be the case at a workplace, for example, if management suspects that an employee has consumed alcohol in the workplace and the employee can be referred to a health care facility for a test to prevent accidents at work. A urine test for alcohol may also be done in such cases.
In some companies, a medical examination of the employee is carried out before taking up the job. As a rule, these are companies in which employees are responsible for people's lives or operate devices which, if not used properly, can have serious consequences.
Such tests do not require special training - only a sampling of biomaterial is performed. A blood alcohol level of 0. 2 ppm is considered harmful to the body, while 0. 5 ppm is a lethal dose.