Ethyl alcohol or ethanol, known commonly as alcohol, is the same whether the beverage is wine, beer, or hard liquor. Beverage alcohol is a drug that depresses the central nervous system, like barbiturates, sedatives, and anesthetics. One effect of drinking alcohol is “blood-sludging” where the red blood cells clump together causing the small blood vessels to plug up, starve the tissues of oxygen, and cause cell death.

The drinker’s blood alcohol level rises as a factor of the relationship among the amount of alcohol consumed, body size and proportion of body fat, the amount of food in the stomach, and what is mixed with the alcohol. When a person drinks more alcohol than his or her body can eliminate, alcohol accumulates in the blood stream and the blood alcohol level rises. Read the rest of this entry →

Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen from the lungs to the body’s tissues and returns carbon dioxide from the tissues to the lungs. It’s necessary to have a maintained Hemoglobin level in blood, so that all functions can be performed well. Lack of Hemoglobin may result as many diseases.

The hemoglobin level is measured in Hemoglobin grams (gm) per deciliter (dl) of whole blood (a deciliter being 100 milliliters). Here’re the normal Hemoglobin values:

• Newborns: 17-22 gm/dl
• One (1) week of age: 15-20 gm/dl
• One (1) month of age: 11-15gm/dl
• Children: 11-13 gm/dl
• Adult males: 14-18 gm/dl
• Adult women: 12-16 gm/dl
• Men after middle age: 12.4-14.9 gm/dl
• Women after middle age: 11.7-13.8 gm/dl