Alcoholism is defined as chronic heavy drinking or intoxication resulting in impairment of health. It uses dependency as a coping mechanism. It involves increased adaptation to the effects of alcohol that requires increasing doses to achieve and sustain a desired effect. (Webster Dictionary, 1987)
People who drink heavily says that they are killing just a few brain cells. This is not funny. This is far from hilarious. A study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center used MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) compared the hippocampi (part of the brain that gets damaged first in Alzheimer’s disease) of subjects 14-21 years old who abused alcohol and those who did not. The results are alarming. The average size difference between the healthy teens and alcohol abusers was roughly 10 percent. That’s quite a lot! Who amongst us wants to have a brain that shrinks 10 percent or even less?
How much brain damage is enough for you?
Alcohol slows down the transmission of nerve signals within the brain. When alcohol is taken for long periods, these nerve cells react by increasing the number and sensitivity of these nerve receptors. Whenever drinking stops, the brain is then struck with too many hyperactive receptors. These hyperactive receptors can cause cell death. Such condition can be compared to a supermarket manager who noticed that such products are in demand by customers thus, he will put on more stocks of that product to anticipate the need. It is after the demand have tapered down that the store manger is left with so much stock with less buyers. Much like the brain with increased hyperactive receptors. The presence of such hyperactive receptors with no alcohol to uptake, manifest as withdrawal symptoms. The classic headache, jittery hands as well as intense anxiety. It can even generate seizures. This is the brain’s way of coping without the presence of alcohol in the system. Little by little, brain cell damage and death occurs.
Whenever drinking stops, the brain is then struck with too many hyperactive receptors. These hyperactive receptors can cause cell death.
It is during withdrawal that the greatest brain damage occurs. Consequently, there is difficulty recalling verbal and noverbal information. As an individual continue to drink heavily, he later develops difficulty in concentrating and problem-solving.
As damage continue to expand, as one reaches for a drink after the other, damage starts to extends to the limbic system. This part of the brain is responsible for encoding memory and mobilizes when a person is hungry, frightened or angry. It aids the brain transmit survival impulses. This also explains why most, if not all of the alcoholic individuals do not desire to eat after a night of drinking and has a hard time recalling what happened or what they have done last night.
What about those people that started drinking at an early age, like the adolescents? Scott Swartwelder, a neuropsychologist at Duke University says: “The brain is a developing nervous system and the things you do to it can change it.” The studies he conducted showed that adolescents who go on binge drinking have a hard time learning. Learning depends on communication between nerve cells. The alcohol uptake of adolescents makes them more increasingly susceptible to brain damage due to the fact that they are developing adults. Nerve receptors are still developing and alcohol takes a toll on the these receptors that it is difficult for the brain to store long-term memory, which, creates difficulty in learning. If these adults have been drinking since time immemorial, how can they be stop? And if they do stop and experience withdrawal, imagine how much of their brain have been damaged or are dying?
In summary, prolonged intake of alcohol creates changes in the brain that makes it difficult to stop reaching bottle after bottle after bottle. This leaves us a nagging question: how much alcohol is too much? Let me rephrase the question: how much brain cell damage is enough for you?
Photo by Edwin Land/ Sean
