Canadian researchers tout ‘game-changing’ alcohol poisoning treatment

Canadian researchers say they’ve developed a gamechanging method to treat alcohol poisoning — and it involves literally breathing alcohol out of the body by hyperventilating.

They say it’s three times faster than relying on the liver alone.

Lead researcher Joseph Fisher, a senior scientist at University Health Network’s Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, calls the technique a “no-brainer” that doesn’t have side effects and involves a very simple mechanical device to assist breathing.

He says the process simply takes advantage of the fact that each exhalation, along with carbon dioxide, contains alcohol that has evaporated from the blood into the lungs.

“And the more breaths you take, the more evaporates. It’s that simple,” says Fisher.

Of course hyperventilating causes its own issues — including light-headedness, tingling or numbness on hands and feet, and fainting.

Fisher’s approach relies on a device that administers the exact amount of carbon dioxide needed to maintain normal levels in the blood.

It’s the size of a small briefcase and uses a valve system, connecting tubes, a mask, and a small tank with compressed carbon dioxide.

Fisher says a small study involving five male volunteers proved the concept works, but more extensive clinical trials are needed.

He hopes it could one day serve as a powerful tool in any hospital emergency department.

“I used to be an emergency doc and I know they have big issues with patients who — on top of everything else — are also alcohol-intoxicated,” says Fisher.

“Many of them, you don’t know what’s wrong with them. They’re coming in unconscious and highly alcohol-intoxicated so they’re hard to examine ... And there’s nothing you can do. You have to wait until their livers metabolize it.”

The study was released Thursday in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports, published by Nature Research.

Subjects each drank about half a glass of vodka and were able to eliminate alcohol three times faster than through the liver alone, says Fisher.

He says the approach is as effective as using a hyperbaric chamber, a more involved set-up that delivers oxygen in a pressurized room or chamber.