The Alcohol Blackout - Book Review

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Dear Group,

 

One more book review. Pl. note that I only share reviews of

health-related books and not others here. If any of you is interested

in seeing all my reviews, pl. see www.freewebs.com/swamyreviews and

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Best wishes.

 

Swamy

 

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Title: The Alcohol Blackout

Sub-title: Walking, Talking, Unconscious... and Lethal

Authors: Donal F.Sweeney, M.D. with Robert A. Liston

Publisher: Mnemosyne Press, Santa Barbara

ISBN: 0-9747943-0-9

Genre: Non-Fiction/Medicine/Neuroscience/Law/Psyciatry/

Pesentation: Soft Cover

No. of Pages: 221

 

What happens when one consumes alcohol? Several things can happen. A

sense of euphoria, a high, then loss of coordination, blackout,

passout etc. All other stages except blackout are well understood and

are well documented. Common people also are aware of almost all these

stages but when it comes to blackout, it seems that the knowledge and

awareness is rather low. Dr. Donal F. Sweeney, M.D., a board certified

doctor of internal medicine, chest disease and addiction medicine, set

out in this book to fill this gap in the knowledge. Together with

Robert A. Liston, a former newspaperman and magazine journalist,

Dr.Sweeney deals with a complex subject in a faily clear and cogent

manner.

 

The authors define what is a blackout and explain what factors

probably cause the blackout, the difference between a blackout and a

fadeout, the difference between a blackout and a passout, the probable

mechanism of a blackout and its implications in the legal systems of a

country. They forcefully argue the need for further research into a

subject that is not well undestood by the community of scientists

(including doctors and psycologists, psychiatrists etc.), lawyers,

police and the judges. A good number of cases involving alcohol

induced blackout are presented. The difference between immediate

memory and short term memory is crucial in understanding the

phenomenon of alcohol blackout. The case of Henry, a frenchman who was

operated for some problem and was left with only immediate memory and

no short term memory made interesting reading. The parallel between

alcohol blackout and Henry is really striking. The comparison between

drug induced blackout and alcohol blackout is also interesting, esp.

because of the difference in terms of the type of memory and duration

affected.

 

While the treatment of memory and its formation and the description of

brain anatomy and the role of neurotransmitters etc., may need

rereading and or additional reading (for which the authors do

supplement the book with a list of resources), the subject matter and

its treatment is not beyond the understanding capacity of an educated

layman.

 

Dr.Sweeney is frank and forthright in his views on the subject and

while he is no lawyer, his analysis of Paul Cox's case, made me think

that he could have made an excellent lawyer or detective if he ever

wanted! I feel that he would make an excellent expert witness now for

many cases of alcohol blackout related crimes.

 

The print quality is average and the editing could be better. You will

be able to check out the contents, excerpts etc., at a local book

store or at Amazon and similar on-line bookstores and so will be able

to make a fairly quick decision to buy the book or not.

 

I would strongly recommend this book to you if you need to deal with

the problem of alcohol blackout in any capacity, including as a

friend, a policeman, a lawyer etc.

 

About myself: I am a physicist and a metallurgist, not a medical man.

Thus I am a lay reader as far as health books are concerned. I have

tasted alcohol out of curiosity but luckily came of a possible

addiction at an early stage. I never experienced a blackout myself.

However, I have taken up this book because I am interested in health

(partly because of my own health challenges) for long. I have studied

Homeopathy, Biochemic (Schussler's) Tissue Remedies, Bach Flower

Remedies, Reiki (I am a certified Usui Reiki Master Healer), Crystal

Healing etc. I would strongly advise you to seek the advice of a

health professional when trying to understand and implement any

knowledge gained from books.