Being drunk is a self-induced condition. Becoming ill or being injured as a result of excessive alcohol consumption is therefore also a self-induced condition. Therefore, it only stands to reason, if you’ve caused this to yourself, then you should not benefit from others paying for you to get better, right? Or wrong?
This is mostly an issue for countries with socialized medicine, but it could also be an issue for insurance companies in the United States. In the United Kingdom, a suggestion has been made that people who are sick and/or injured because they abused alcohol should have to pay for …read more

Partying and enjoying time with old friends, new friends, and people you’ve yet to meet is a big part of the holiday season. New Year’s Eve is a party night extraordinaire for many. But it’s also a time when women can be subjected to unwanted attention from others or carelessness on their part – resulting in unplanned pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, even assaults.
So, how do women stay safe? Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Women’s Health Educator Shelby Knox. She is an expert in sex ed and women’s issues, and recognizes that “mistakes can happen.” But, she offers up …read more

It’s the holiday time and some people have a tendency to overdo it a bit more now then at any other time of the year. If you’re not driving and you don’t have a problem with alcohol, the only problem  you may encounter is the after effect: the hangover.
Does the type of booze you drink really affect the way you feel the next day? Sure thing, say researchers, if your choice is between bourbon and vodka.
The way alcoholic drinks are made vary according to the type. Some alcohols have yeast, for example (like beer), while others may be high in …read more

We’ve heard “don’t drink and drive,” and I know I’ve seen campaigns in the summer for people not to drink while operating a boat – but the warning not to drink and ski or snowboard is a new one on me. Apparently, drinking and alpine winter months is a big enough problem that the British government has issued a warning to their citizens who travel to Europe to ski and snowboard.

Acccording to this article, Alpine enthusiasts, “don’t drink and ski,”
More than thirty Britons died in Alpine accidents last year, half of whom were under 25. Many died because they underestimated …read more

Drunk driving is a bit of a misnomer. It gives you the impression that you need to be obviously drunk: weaving as you walk, slurring your speech, acting like a jerk. But driving drunk is not that obvious most of the time. Driving while under the influence is a better term, but it boils down to the same thing: You’ve had too much to drink and you shouldn’t be driving because you’re a buzzed driver. Maybe, no matter how much alcohol you’ve had, you shouldn’t be driving at all. It works in many Northern European countries, there’s no reason why …read more

Yet another one for the Duh Files: Older alcoholics need more alcohol to get drunk. Really?
Alcoholism is not something that is funny nor should it be joked about. It’s a serious problem that requires serious interventions. But who in their right mind doesn’t know or hasn’t figured out that the longer you abuse alcohol, the more alcohol you end up using?
According to an Ohio State University press release about a study that looked at alcoholics and alcohol use,
The findings suggest that older problem drinkers may have developed a tolerance for alcohol and need to drink even more than younger abusers …read more

It happens a lot. We read or hear of a drunk driving crash (I refuse to call it an accident) and while the victims are severely hurt or killed, the drunk driver walks away, virtually unhurt. Or, even if hurt, they recover quickly. It always makes me wonder about the effect of alcohol on the body when it gets hurt. Now it seems, there’s proof that being drunk limits the amount of damage the body sustains in a trauma.
Researchers studied almost 8000 people who had been hurt in accidents. They were looking to see if alcohol in the body at …read more

Welcome to the latest Healthbolt Carnival. This edition features a collection of posts sent in over the past month (some, it seems, have gotten lost, so if you post isn’t here, apologies).
Grab a coffee, pull up a chair, and start clicking on an eclectic selection of health and wellness posts…
Katherine McMahon from Gluten Free Alaskan Goddess discovers that Italy is full of Celiacs in Living Gluten Free in the land of Pasta and Pizza.

Alvaro Fernandez from SharpBrains writes about Cognitive screenings and Alzheimer’s Disease, saying, “The Alzheimer’s Foundation of America just released a thoughtful report advocating for widespread cognitive screenings after …read more

Ever live in a place where you know the water is not safe to drink? Where you even use bottled water to clean your teeth? I have and I’ve got to say it’s not fun. I lived in Saudi Arabia for a year and was reliant on bottled water for drinking, cooking, and yes, cleaning my teeth.
But while I found it annoying, at least I did have access to clean water which is more that millions of people around the world have.
The World Health Organizations (WHO) says…
“…1.1 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. Unsafe water and …read more

Did you know that this year marks the 100th year of America’s reliance on chlorine to disinfect drinking water?
Jersey City, NJ was the first US city to routinely chlorinate it’s municipal drinking water, followed by Chicago’s union stockyards and many, many more cities around the country. Today, pretty much all U.S. public water systems rely on chlorine in some form for safe drinking water
As a result, waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid are virtually eliminated.
But as this guest post by the Chairman of Water Quality & Health Council highlights, there are always cracks in the system…
The Waterborne Outbreak in …read more