While the cause of 27-year-old singer Amy Winehouse’s death last week has yet to be determined from toxicology tests, her family blames her sudden withdrawal from alcohol, rather than drugs, for killing her.
The family told a British paper that Winehouse -- known to abuse both drugs and alcohol -- quit drinking cold turkey instead of tapering off, as her doctor recommended. This caused her to go into shock, the family asserted.
Can withdrawing from alcohol too abruptly really be dangerous?
“People who drink heavily and stop suddenly may go through alcohol withdrawal, which can cause symptoms ranging from anxiety to tremors to full-blown seizures and delusions,” said Sam Zakhari, director of the metabolism and health effects division at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. “Sometimes, this can affect the heart, causing cardiac arrhythmia, and in rare cases, this can be fatal.”
The emphasis there is on rare. The culprit in most deaths of substance abusers is alcohol or drugs -- too much, or a perilous mix.
Winehouse’s dangerous habits may have ravaged her body to the point that she wasn’t able to recover, even after she stopped using.
Regardless of what the cause of death turns out to be, Zakhari said all alcoholics should taper off slowly and quit under a physician’s supervision to avoid severe symptoms. Prescription medications like benzodiazepines may be useful, he said, to calm the brain and counteract the stimulant effect that kicks in when the body is no longer getting a depressant, such as alcohol.
A physician will also take into account an individual’s heart risks based on family history and other factors when providing treatment.
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