Party with care

A podiatrist at Beijing's time-honored Qinghuachi Bathhouse provides treatment to a customer. Many people get foot diseases because of frequent walking and fair visits during the Spring Festival. [Photo by Chen Xiaogen / for China Daily]

Dangers of excess

The department also treats people who have been injured in fights started under the influence of alcohol. Bottles often turn into weapons that combatants throw at each other's heads, Zheng says.

But while alcohol sometimes makes people lose rational control and fight, the greatest danger it causes is intoxication.

"For the Chinese, a feast cannot be a feast without alcohol, and people are used to drunkenness," he says.

"But drunkenness is actually a form of alcohol intoxication, and is dangerous."

At a low level, alcohol intoxication makes people flushed and it inhibits physical movement. People lose balance, which may lead to dangerous falls.

When nausea and coma occur, there are chances that a drunk person will be suffocated by vomit.

In extreme cases, the depressive effects of alcohol upon the central nervous system can lead directly to death, when vital functions such as the heartbeat and breathing are seriously affected, Zheng says.

An uncontrolled feast, however, can do as much harm as alcohol poisoning, he says.

Hospitals these days have few patients suffering from stomach upset caused by unclean food, as living standards have improved. During holidays, though, people tend to eat more and irregularly, which often triggers stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, according to Zheng.

Such suffering occurs easily among those who have worked under great pressure and already have inflammations or ulcers in the digestive tract. Sometimes, a few days of binge eating can lead to severe illness, such as acute pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, which requires immediate medical care and can be lethal.

For people with chronic diseases, the problems are more complex. The cold weather during Spring Festival increases the risk or severity of chronic diseases, including stroke, high blood pressure and heart disease.

Excitement, tiredness and food rich in oil and fat, which are common during the holiday, are bad for chronic disease control, such as diabetes and high blood sugar and cholesterol.

Related: Stay healthy on holiday