Harmful Interactions: Mixing Alcohol with Medicines

You’ve probably seen this warning on medicines you’ve taken. The danger is real. Mixing alcohol with certain medications can cause nausea and vomiting, headaches, drowsiness, fainting, or loss of coordination.

It also can put you at risk for internal bleeding, heart problems, and difficulties in breathing. In addition to these dangers, alcohol can make a medication less effective or even useless, or it may make the medication harmful or toxic to your body.

Some medicines that you might never have suspected can react with alcohol, including many medications which can be purchased “over-the-counter”—that is, without a prescription. Even some herbal remedies can have harmful effects when combined with alcohol.

This pamphlet lists medications that can cause harm when taken with alcohol and describes the effects that can result. The list gives the brand name by which each medicine is commonly known (for example, Benadryl®) and its generic name or active ingredient (in Benadryl®, this is diphenhydramine). The list presented here does not include all the medicines that may interact harmfully with alcohol. Most important, the list does not include all the ingredients in every medication.

Medications are safe and effective when used appropriately. Your pharmacist or other health care provider can help you determine which medications interact harmfully with alcohol.

Have you Ever Wondered How Alcoholic Drinks Look Like Under The Microscope?

    A company called Bevshots has produced a series of shots of booze under the microscope at the Florida State University's chemistry labs.(1000x magnification).

The process consist of letting a droplet of liquor dry out completely on a slide in an airtight container, and photographing the result with a 35mm camera. The entire process can take up to three months and as many as 200 attempts to properly capture the drink's constituent parts.

         Cocktails can have fruit and soft drinks in them which contain citric acids and complex sugars which dry out well and look great photographed.  The incredible shapes and colours of the boozy artwork are highlighted by shining natural light on top and through the bottom of the slide. Just like images of snowflakes, each drink is different.
These images are available for sale at Bevshots. Open for business since August 2009, Bevshots estimate that they have sold over 20,000 examples of their alcoholic. 

Sources:
http://twistedsifter.com/2010/06/alcoholic-art-liquor-under-a-microscope/
http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1999889_2157950,00.html

Marijuana Prohibition Project

International Number Ones -Because every country is good at something

Click to zoom in http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/because-every-country-is-the-best-at-something/#

*Check country database

Funny unexpected 'results' after a teacher's experiment ....

      A chemistry teacher one day decided to teach his class about the dangers of alcohol.

       He thought up a neat little experiment, and showed it to his class.
      He had two glass tumblers, one filled with clean water, and the other with whiskey. He placed a live worm in each glass. The worm in water was perfectly fine, however the worm which was dropped in whiskey died almost instantly.

       Rather pleased with the experiment, he decided to ask the class what they could deduce from it. The class were silent for several seconds, until one boy at the back called out: "Drink whiskey and you won't get worms!"