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Effect of Alcohol is Doubled on an Airplane?


Name of Myth:
Alcohol @ 35,000 Feet?

History/Background of the Myth:
In my travels, I've heard this myth countless times in airports and on planes, but I've never seen any definitive evidence of its truth. Alcohol, Myth, Airplanes, sounds like a job for the Mythbusters! ...and would probably make for great television, no?

Hypothesis of the Test:
I believe that some of the many effects alcohol has on the human body and mind may be amplified and/or diminished while subjects are in the pressurized cabin of an airplane at altitude.

Ideal MythBuster(s) to Conduct the Test:
Any and/or All!

Best Method to Conduct the Test - Short Version:
While on the ground, drink, test, record results. Wait 48 hours. Repeat process while on a plane, compare results!

Longer, Nerdier version: I'm just documenting some brainstorming here, so skip it if it hurts your noggin. Testing/data: Perhaps some form of "sobriety" testing better suited to the crampedquarters of a plane (consult police), an intelligence test, a skills test, BAC (via Breathalyzer), lifesigns, etc. Potential Procedure: Perform a control batteryat ground-level, with no alcohol consumed, on all particpating subjects, to establish a "sober ground-level" baseline data set. Repeat battery after consuming alcohol to record ground-level results with the effect of alcohol. Wait a few days. Hop on a chartered flight, test before and after the consumption of alcohol. Compare results!

My Prediction: ???
it is posebal.bigfun

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Latest page update: made by bigfun , Mar 27 2008, 10:39 PM EDT (about this update About This Update bigfun Edited by bigfun

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Started By Thread Subject Replies Last Post
ShaggyAWD Altitude and Oxygen levels in the blood 1 Jun 10 2008, 4:55 AM EDT by amy_c
ShaggyAWD
Thread started: Jun 10 2008, 1:29 AM EDT  Watch
The human body requires oxygen to function. That oxygen is moved around the body through the blood stream. Coincidentally, alcohol also moves through the blood stream. Oxygen levels in our atmosphere are the most dense at sea level. The higher in the atmosphere you are the less oxygen there is in the air. So, a person that has gained altitude will have a lower than normal oxygen concentration in their blood. If you go high enough in the atmosphere there will be a point where your body cannot absorb enough oxygen into your bloodstream. This is called HYPOXIA. Hypoxia happens at different altitudes for different people. As an example, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) recommends having oxygen available(not required use) in unpressurized aircraft at 5000 ft above mean sea level. I, being at 5,280 ft. on the ground, can laugh at this because I function fine without supplemental oxygen and have my whole life. So, I'm less likely to get hypoxia at a certain altitude than someone coming from sea level. The common symptoms of hypoxia include euphoric feelings, tingling fingers and lips, headache, impaired thinking, and loss of conciousness. Now tell me, what are the effects of alcohol? Yep, pretty much identical to hypoxia. Essentially, being up at high altitude (e.g. 35,000 ft.) with no pressurization or oxygen is like being drunk already, extremely drunk. Adding alcohol into a blood stream thats already lacking enough oxygen will surely mess you up good(bad?). In big passenger jets that are pressurized you won't notice it as much but it's still there as the jet can only pressurize to a certain point. So, yes you will feel more drunk at altitude, but it's because you have less oxygen in your blood than is typical for you.

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amy_c Altitude and alcohol 0 Jun 5 2008, 10:09 PM EDT by amy_c
amy_c
Thread started: Jun 5 2008, 10:09 PM EDT  Watch
While I have never drank on a plane, I did get tipsy way too fast when I was vacationing in the mountains. I didn't know what was wrong with me. A glass or two and I had a MASSIVE hangover! Someone laughed at me and told me to lay off the drink while in the mountains.

So, if it's the altitude, then the plane myth should be true.
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edsparts flying on 15 hour flights 1 Feb 26 2008, 12:44 AM EST by Atari2600
edsparts
Thread started: Feb 25 2008, 11:36 PM EST  Watch
i have done this, its the same as on the ground, and they are called aircraft, i left the good old USA when i was 9 years old, i have bin flighting first class, lots of room there, and free drinks,food, movies, any ways my dad is marine, he has left the core but will all ways be a marine, i lived overseas in the congo my father was head of making sure that everything was done to the aircraft, and it would not be able to fly without his handcock on the mainfest, saying that everything was done by the book or by boeing, for they were all Boeing aircraft, and every 2000 hours of flight time the wings had to be x-rayed, there are so many tiny cracks that you can not see with the naked eye, there's so many things that have to be done to keep them flying , there are no short cuts, and today the aircraft will fly its self, there are 16 computers for every different operation of that aircraft does, the pilots are there if something goes wrong, and to taxi the aircraft over to the termial for boarding, the aircraft will and does it all , only in canada will the pilots fly the aircraft in canada the pilots are made under contrack to fly the aircraft by hand,
but as far as getting drunk at 36,000 feet, it's the same as on the ground, it's all just in your mind, you may relaxed more when flying on booze, but it's the same as if you were in a bus on the ground, then again the alcohol in the USA is watered down, and it's made faster with ether, it gives me a head ake, i will only drink booze that i can make myself, because i know how to make it, and just the best of things to make it with, when i lived in Germany they had real beer, and they start to drink it at the age of 8 years old, and it's twice as strong as US beer, they even drink a pint of beer with lunch, and don't get high, but some one from the USA to drink what they drink you would fall off the bar stool before you able to finish a pint of beer. in England it's the same way.
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edsparts getting kinda of drunk, at 36,000 feet 0 Feb 26 2008, 12:13 AM EST by edsparts
edsparts
Thread started: Feb 26 2008, 12:13 AM EST  Watch
look you don't need alcohol, in Yoga you can get drunk without anything, just use your mind and you don't need drugs to get high, drugs are poisions, given to you in very small amounts, sorry my spelling is off because when i was 9 years old i learned to read and right french along with learning to read and right english (american), also at 13 i learned to read and right in german, so i think in french,german, or english as in England, then my fingers have to convert it to american english, i think your spelling would be kinda of messed up too. if your brain was thinking in german, and trying to spell in english(american), even in england some of the same words mean different things, but are said the same way.....ed.
p.s. there are many books telling you about this fact, all you have to do is find them, and read, also a good book is the PDR, it's is what doctors have to read and understand before they can become a M.D. doctor, it will tell most of everything that you didn't want to know about the human body and the effects about it and on it. be careful some things in that book are kinda scary......goodluck...........ed
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