Being drunk might make you more accident prone, but it also
increases your chance of survival. Research published in the
journal American Surgeon reveals that trauma patients are more
likely to survive if they were intoxicated at the time of
their injury.
A retrospective study of nearly 8,000 trauma patients found
that seven percent of people who came in sober died of their
injuries, while those who were hurt while drunk only died one
percent of the time. A positive blood alcohol level seemed to
increase the likelihood of survival, even after the researchers
took into account the age of the patient and the severity of
the injury. Trauma patients who came in to the hospital drunk
were discharged sooner, too.
Exactly how alcohol protects the injured is still not clear.
But a past study on animals did find that ethanol protected
against nerve damage. The new work hints that alcohol might
have a place in treating traumatic injuries, although more
research is needed. In the meantime, avoiding trauma in the
first place is still the strategy one might call most sober.