AFTER losing his son to drink driving, neurosurgeon Dr Brian Hoeflinger has set out to educate others on the dangers of getting behind the wheel intoxicated.
The US-based medic said his son died when he was just 18-years-old.
tiktok/drhoeflingerDr Brian Hoeflinger explained how long it takes your body to burn off booze[/caption]
He said his son had been in a car accident almost a decade ago and that he had been ‘that drunk driver’.
Taking to TikTok, the expert revealed how fast booze levels can build up in your body.
He said: “You have to know what happens with alcohol… Knowing this about drinking could save your life.”
Standing in his kitchen, the medic poured water into shot glasses.
He said you should imagine you’re at a party, and that in the first hour, you drink five shots of booze.
“As you’re taking these shots, that alcohol is building up in your system fast. So alcohol goes to your brain within five minutes and it starts to affect you.
“But maybe what you don’t know is your liver only metabolises one ounce (29.5mL) of alcohol per hour,” he explained.
He added that if you’d consumed five ounces (147.8ml) then at the end of the hour, you would have only burned off one ounce.
“So I’m going to have four ounces (118.2mL) of alcohol left in my bloodstream.
“My liver can’t metabolise it that fast,” he said.
As the night goes on, he added that it’s easy to consume more and more booze.
He said: “Party is rocking so we’re going to have three more ounces (88.7mL).
“I take three ounces (88.7mL) of alcohol in that next hour. Now I’m up to a total of eight ounces (236.5mL) of alcohol in two hours. I’ve burned off two, but I still have six ounces (177.4mL) left in my system.
“So that six ounces (177.4mL) is going to take six hours to burn off.”
The doctor said that many people believe they can stop drinking an hour or so before driving and that they will be ok to get behind the wheel.
How to get help with your booze
There are plenty of helpful resources and tools to help you with your drinking issues.
Drinkline – Call 0300 123 1110 (weekdays 9am to 8pm, weekends 11am to 4pm).
Alcoholics anonymous – free self-help group that offers a 12 week plan
Al-Anon – A group for family members or friends struggling to help a loved one
Adfam – a national charity working with families affected by drugs and alcohol
National Association for Children of Alcoholics (Nacoa – helpline for children who have parents who are alcohol dependent – call 0800 358 3456
“You can’t do that. You’re still drunk five to six hours down the road
“I really want to tell people that’s how alcohol can stack up in your system very easily when you’re drunk.
“You won’t know it, it won’t wear off for hours and hours down the road.”
He urged people to not drink and drive, and said he ‘never wants anyone to feel the way his family did’, after the loss of their son.
In the UK, the law states the drink drive limit is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, or 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath.
In Scotland the limit is 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood or 22 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath, the Met Police state.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) states that it’s not possible to convert this accurately to units of alcohol, or how many drinks that these guidelines equal, as it’s completely different for each person.
The NHS states that you should drink no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across 3 days or more.
That’s around 6 medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or six pints of 4 per cent beer, guidance states.
There’s no completely safe level of drinking, but sticking within these guidelines lowers your risk of harming your health, experts previously warned.