The Brain and Alcohol
In this Issue:
Meow,
Sobriety Increases
Brain Volume & Restores Some Lost Brain Function
Dr. Rodier recently wrote about degenerative brain conditions, like
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and
how the brain can actually regenerate if properly nourished.
Along these lines, a recent study in the journal Brain explored the brain’s
ability to regenerate after the toxic overload of chronic alcoholism.
Researchers focused on the brains of alcoholics during periods of sobriety
and were astonished by the brain’s prolific activity.
Subjects’ brain regions began regenerating within just a few days without
alcohol. In less than two months the results were astonishing:
-
1.85% increase in brain volume
-
20% increase in cerebellar choline levels – indicators of brain cell
relay activity
-
10% increase in a chemical indicating proper brain cell function
Alcohol and aging have similar degenerative effects on the brain – shrinkage
in brain mass and impairment of brain cells and brain region communication. This
degeneration limits the brain’s ability to learn, remember, and organize.
And, studies have long shown alcohol to significantly hinder short-term memory
skills and activities like reasoning, planning, and prioritizing. Women are particularly vulnerable to the damaging effects of alcohol on
the brain.
To make a simple analogy the brain of an excessive drinker is like dried up
leaves on a tomato plant that has gotten more sun than water, but can still
revive.
Similarly, alcohol cripples and kills brain cells, in part, by dehydrating
them.
The longer heavy drinking goes on, the less the brain is able to
regenerate. Without alcohol's toxic effects, the brain not only rehydrates but also
resumes healthy functioning of brain synapses.
Thus, there is hope for excessive drinkers who get and stay sober, making abstinence a worthwhile exchange for increased intellectual function!
Avoiding tobacco also helps the brain, as tobacco also significantly
hinders the brain’s process of self-repair.
For more on
alcohol abstinence and the brain.
Health in the News
Our next member interview is with Gino Giglio, who hails from New York, spent
several artistic decades working on Broadway productions, and now splits time
between Manhattan and Palm Beach Gardens, Florida working in the healing arts.
Please do opt back in with our new newsletter service so you won’t miss
great features -- on members like Gino or any of the other educational bytes this kat
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Do it for the kat! ^..^
Still purringly yours,
Guido
Guido Housemouser
Chief Kat and Community Manager
Our Health Co-op
4188 Westroads Drive,
Unit 123
Riviera Beach, FL 33407
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