In some cases, you need to be tested, but the other person drinks. So the question is, can you drink alcohol before donating blood? First, people are not interested in rumors, but rather what authoritative scientific studies say about the effects of alcohol on blood tests.
Alcohol and blood components
What you should know: Alcohol affects all organs and systems of the body as it is immediately absorbed into the blood and changes its composition. This is the main reason why alcohol affects blood tests, changing indicators.
That's why, if you want accurate results and drink alcohol the day before, you need to consider whether you can donate blood after drinking, and if you can, delay donating for two or three days. Of course, the effect of alcohol on the blood test may be small, and in some cases the indicator will not change much: a lot depends on the individual characteristics of the body, the amount of alcohol consumed, the type of analysis, and the type of alcohol. However, it's best not to take chances: if you pay for analytics, you could lose a lot of money.
If vodka is more or less clear, then when it comes to low-alcohol beverages, in order for alcohol lovers to know if it's okay to drink beer before you drink it, you need to know exactly how alcohol affects the body before the test. To do this, you need to understand how alcohol affects metabolism and other processes.
clinical blood test
Alcohol can cause the body to become dehydrated, which can cause the blood to thicken. This leads to the fact that a normal blood test may show a false increase in the number of white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, when their numbers have not changed, but the amount of water in the blood has changed.
There may be another picture. For example, excess alcohol can reduce the level of white blood cells in the blood. This is because immune cells die in the fight against toxins, so the number of white blood cells is lower than normal. The fewer white blood cells you have in your blood, the harder it is for your body to deal with an infection.
Of course, drinking a dose or two of alcohol is unlikely to negatively affect the functioning of the immune system. But if you drink a lot of alcohol, the situation is completely different. If a person feels intoxicated after drinking for a while, this is an accurate indicator of damage to the immune system. Such large amounts of alcohol can lead to nutritional deficiencies that can weaken the immune system. And all this can show analytics.
Alcohol also has a negative effect on red blood cells: it makes them stick to each other. Because of this, clumps of red blood cells often cannot enter narrowed blood vessels and block blood flow in the capillaries. This significantly reduces the oxygen supply to the tissues, and the cells of the body begin to experience a state of hypoxia. This can negatively impact health and therefore analytics.
Biochemical analysis
Alcohol should not be consumed during any blood test, including whether the biochemical composition of plasma needs to be analyzed. Doctors need this data to obtain information about the normal functioning of the kidneys, liver, heart and other vital organs.
Biochemical blood tests include studies of enzymes, proteins, hormones, electrolytes, glucose, potassium, sodium, chloride, carbon dioxide, and other substances. Excessive or mistaken drinking will lead to an imbalance of acid-base balance, change the levels of various indicators, and affect the analysis results.
Alcohol consumption can negatively affect the functioning of the cardiovascular system. So if a doctor prescribes a test designed to diagnose her working, the result will be negative. For example, if we talk about how alcohol affects total cholesterol (required to produce brain tissue, nerve cells, hormones), then alcohol increases blood cholesterol levels as much as animal fat.
Although the body needs cholesterol, too much cholesterol can lead to heart disease because it is the cause of atherosclerosis.
Another blood test that is seriously affected by alcohol consumption is a test to check liver function. Basically, they measure whether the enzyme it produces deviates from the norm. Depending on the state of the liver, their numbers can increase or decrease after drinking alcohol.
After drinking alcohol, ammonia levels increase in the blood, the end product of protein metabolism. It then enters the liver through the portal vein, where it is converted to urea. The levels of this toxic substance can greatly affect acid-base balance and brain function. Drinking alcohol increases the level of this toxin in the blood and poisons tissues.
Hormones and Alcohol
If a person drinks alcohol before having a hormone blood test, the results will be unreliable. In fact, hormones are chemicals that control and coordinate the activities of all tissues and organs. Each of them is secreted by a certain gland and is directed to target cells after entering the bloodstream.
In order for the hormonal system to function properly and tissues to respond correctly, the hormone levels in the blood must remain normal at all times. Drinking alcohol can significantly disrupt the activity of hormone-producing glands, negatively impacting health. This is why if a person drinks alcohol before donating blood, the work of the hormonal system is disrupted, which is reflected in the test results. So to the question of whether it is okay to drink alcohol before donating blood for hormones, the answer is no.
An example of alcohol's effect on the hormonal system is its effect on sex hormones. Of these, the most important are two groups of hormones—androgens and estrogens. These hormones affect puberty and the various manifestations of secondary and primary sexual characteristics (hair growth, breast development, menstrual cycles, fertility) in both males and females.
Alcohol negatively affects all of these processes, which affects the results of the analysis, and the answer is whether it is okay to drink alcohol before donating blood. Impotence and infertility tend to develop if you drink regularly.
alcohol and glucose
If you have to donate blood for sugar (glucose), then you should know that while it is not a hormone, it clearly shows if two other hormones produced by the pancreas, insulin and glucagon, are at work. In fact, glucose is the main source of energy in the body where cells can grow and develop.
Hormones from the pancreas as well as the adrenal and pituitary glands regulate and maintain normal blood sugar levels. For example, insulin's job is to deliver glucose to every cell in the body. Its work is particularly important for the brain's activity because it does not store glucose, but is entirely dependent on the blood supply of this substance.
Alcohol disrupts the activity of all these glands, causing glucose metabolism to slow down and levels to be lower than normal. But there may also be a jump in a general direction. In chronic alcoholics, for example, glucose levels in the blood are instead elevated, which causes receptors to become less sensitive to insulin.
In any case, the deviation of sugar from the standard is a worrying sign. This is why if a person donates blood for sugar after drinking alcohol, doctors may suspect that he has diabetes.
when can I get it
So it's clear that alcohol negatively affects the work of many organs and systems, and is the reason for the negative blood test results, causing doctors to sound the alarm. How long it takes the body to function depends on:
- how much time has passed since the last dose;
- how much the person drank;
- How much does he usually drink?
In the case of a glass of wine, you can donate blood for general analysis in one day. If you need to pass a biochemical or other analysis that requires more thorough preparation, you can do it three days later. In the case of high doses of alcohol, it takes longer before being tested. To get the most accurate data, it's best to wait two weeks.