Unexpected New Year's Eve dangers

MAYWOOD, Ill., Dec. 31 (UPI) -- New Year's drinking can have some unexpected dangers, such as drunken walking, fattening drinks and a weakened immune system, three U.S. health experts warn.

Trauma surgeon Dr. Thomas Esposito of the Loyola University Health System, headquartered in Maywood, Ill., says walking while impaired by alcohol can have deadly consequences and New Year's can be the deadliest day of the year for pedestrians.

Esposito -- who says he has witnessed the harmful effects of drunken walking among his patients and in his own family -- points out the journal Injury Prevention reports 58 percent of the 410 pedestrians killed on New Year's Day from 1986 to 2002 had high blood-alcohol concentrations.

"Alcohol impairs your physical ability to walk and to drive," Esposito says in a statement. "It impairs your judgment, reflexes and coordination."

Alcohol can also make you fat, says Loyola registered dietitian Brooke Schantz, who cautions the more you drink, the higher the calorie count. An 8-ounce glass of eggnog has 343 calories, making it more fattening than a fast-food cheeseburger.

Alcohol can weaken the immune system and slow healing, says Elizabeth Kovacs of Loyola's Alcohol Research Program. Alcohol can also impair bone formation, increase the risk of HIV transmission and hinder recovery from burns, trauma, bleeding and surgery.