Drunkards should be happy as Canadian scientists have built a device that speedily neutralises alcohol intoxication.
The device employs the simple method of hyperventilation (deep and rapid breathing) to suck out alcohol from the blood.
According to Joseph Fisher, Toronto General Hospital Research Institute’s anesthesiologist, using the technique of deep and rapid breathing (hyperventilation) by an individual aids the elimination of alcohol and carbon dioxide from the body and the blood respectively.
But the issue is that when carbon dioxide is sucked out of the blood, one experiences light-headedness, tingling and numbness and fainting.
Fisher said: “Hyperventilation can eliminate the alcohol at least three times faster than through the liver. But you can’t just hyperventilate, because in a minute or two you would become light-headed and pass out.”
To mitigate this, Fisher and his team developed the device that removes alcohol but retains the needed amount of carbon dioxide at normal levels in the blood.
This device uses a valve system, gew connecting tubes, a mask and a small tank of compressed carbon dioxide.
According to research, about three million people die from alcohol every year. Alcohol affects all the parts of the body including brain function, circulation and even nail growth.
When alcohol concentration surpasses a certain level, body organs like liver which removes 90 per cent of the alcohol in the body are damaged and the damage leads to death.
While talking further, Fisher said what his team has put up is “a very basic, low-tech device that could be made anywhere in the world: no electronics, no computers or filters are required. It’s almost inexplicable why we didn’t try this decades ago.”
