Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain

7/31/2019 Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain

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Luckily, you have an amazing number of connections and neurons in your brain (about 100 billion neurons, along with 10s

of billions of glial cells, which support the neurons). So this helps mask the problem. Also, even among long time alcoholics,

it has been shown that simply quitting drinking copious amounts of alcohol is all that is required for your body to be able to

reverse most of the damage to the dendrites and restore the ability for your brain cells to communicate. So you can afford to

damage some of the neurons temporarily without any real lasting effect.

Unfortunately, for the people who have an extreme habit of excessively drinking, there are other side effects on your brain

that arent so easily completely fixed, such as developing Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which is characterized by:

confusion, coordination problems, hallucinations, memory problems, eye problems, and even inducing a coma or death, if its

left untreated. Whats going on here is that excessive alcohol consumption over a long period of time causes a vitamin B1deficiency (8 out of 10 alcoholics are vitamin B1 deficient), due to the alcohol inhibiting the bodys ability to absorb

thiamine (also many alcoholics are often malnourished because of their own bad eating habits). This, in turn, causes neuron

death, among other things. This is treatable, in most cases, but certain effects stick around forever as your body wont be

able to repair itself completely from this particular brand of damage.

Another brain-related side effect caused by excessive drinking is that high doses of alcohol, while not killing your brain cells,

inhibits the growth of new brain cells. However, recent research has shown, at least with rats, that once the alcohol was no

longer given to the rats, new brain cell production went into overdrive to try to compensate for the previously inhibited brain

cell production. Now, if you go for long enough without giving your brain a chance to recover, drinking excessively on a

regular basis, it is thought there may still be lasting effects due to this inhibited new brain cell growth over extended periods,

but whether this is actually the case or not, isnt yet known.

There are also a variety of other known neurological problems that are associated with intemperate alcohol consumptionsover long periods of time and some that even show up in a short amount of time in children and teens who abuse alcohol, but

this article is already too long. Then of course, there are the myriad of other problems, non-brain related that come with

alcoholism, such as liver problems, other nervous system problems outside of how it affects your brain, and others.

Bottom line, alcohol consumed in moderation, such as a small glass of wine a day, can be very good for you. On the other

hand, drinking excessively wont kill you brain cells directly, but is still bad for your brain. Although, your body can

compensate, to a certain extent, and repair the damage caused in most cases, at least as far as your brain is concerned, so

long as you dont make a regular habit of it.

Bonus Factoids:

Another myth concerning alcohol that was once spread about, particularly during Prohibition, but to which I dont

think anyone actually believes anymore (at least I hope not!), is that drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to

spontaneous combustion due to alcohol being flammable and it coursing through your veins. This is ridiculous on

many levels, but nevertheless, was a popular notion during Prohibition and for a while afterwards. The myth that

alcohol kills brain cells was also widely popularized during Prohibition.

There are several things that contribute to hangovers, but principally whats going on here is simple dehydration.

Alcohol has a dehydrating effect by inhibiting the release of vasopressin, which is an anti-diuretic hormone. So in

laymans terms, the result of alcohol inhibiting the vasopressin is that your body produces a lot more urine than

normal with the result that you become dehydrated easily.

Scientists once believed that the number of nerve cells you have in your brain, once you reach adulthood, was all

youd ever have. Thus, damaging these cells could be extremely detrimental to the individual. However, this isnt

correct. New neurons are created all the time in the adult brain, in a process that is called neurogenesis.

Sources:

Alcohols Damaging Effects on the Brain

Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?

Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine

The Claim: Alcohol Kills Brain Cells

Wernicke-Korsakoffs Syndrome

Hangover

Does Drinking Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?

Top 10 Myths About the Brain

Does Drinking Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?

Zuccala, G. , et al. Dose-related impact of alcohol consumption on cognitive function in advanced age: Results of a

multicenter study. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2001, 25, 1743-1748.

Related Articles:

ohol Does Not Kill Brain Cells http://www.misconceptionjunction.com/index.php/2010/10/alcohol-doe...

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Comments (9)

Tweets that mention Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain Cells -- Topsy.com says:

October 4, 2010 at 10:05 am

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by migmol, Common Misconception. Common Misconception said: Alcohol

Does Not Kill Brain Cells http://goo.gl/fb/ATUOR#featured #science [...]

Reply

1.

Tweets that mention Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain Cells -- Topsy.com says:


[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Rodger Cooley and pok rap, Hacker News. Hacker News said: Alcohol

does not kill brain cells: http://bit.ly/cdJxajComments: http://bit.ly/dpwlwZ [...]

Reply

2.

LIVE: Tirsdag 5. oktober says:


[...] Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain Cells (Misconception [...]

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3.

Bookmarks vom 24.09.10 bis 06.10.10 Irgendwas ist ja immer Reloadedsays:


4.


6 14.12.2010 02:32


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[...] Alcohol does not kill brain cells Prost. [...]

Reply

Dass says:


I knew it. Im drinking a White Russian right now, and its 09:37 here in Brazil =)

Reply

5.

Mike says:

November 2, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Now that its been confirmed, I can resume my regularly scheduled drinking =)

Reply

6.

What Alcohol Actually Does To Your Brain And Body | Lifehacker Australia says:

November 9, 2010 at 11:02 am

[...] Dont believe it? A major study by Grethe Jensen and colleagues in 1993 matched brain samples taken from both

alcoholics and nonalcoholics, from groups of the two dead from non-alcohol-related causes. There were no significant

differences found in either the number or density of brain cells between the groups. Misconception Junction tacklesJensens study and the topic in more depth. [...]

Reply

7.

What Alcohol Actually Does to Your Brain and Body Neoaxe's Blogsays:

November 10, 2010 at 12:42 am

[...] Dont believe it? A major study by Grethe Jensen and colleagues in 1993 matched brain samples taken from both

alcoholics and nonalcoholics, from groups of the two dead from non-alcohol-related causes. There were no significant

differences found in either the number or density of brain cells between the groups. Misconception Junction tackles

Jensens study and the topic in more depth. [...]

Reply

8.

Alcohol: What it really does to the body | flick&tea says:November 11, 2010 at 7:03 am

[...] [...]

Reply

9.

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Alcohol Does Not Kill Brain