Drinking Alcohol Doesn't Actually Kill Brain Cells

[Nye Bevan]

Myth: Alcohol kills brain cells. Now, to qualify that title, pure alcohol will absolutely kill brain cells and many other types of cells, which is why it is used as a disinfectant. However, recent research has shown that the quantity of alcohol you could possibly take in, without killing yourself, does not introduce enough alcohol into your bloodstream to kill brain cells. This was proven by a study by Grethe Jensen and co. (1993), who meticulously counted neurons in matched samples of non-alcoholics and alcoholics. What they found was that there was no real difference in the density or overall number of neurons between the two groups.

Various other research since has backed up Jensen's findings. Thus, even alcoholics who are continually taking in unhealthy amounts of alcohol aren't going to see brain cells die because of their drinking problem. However, alcohol does have other effects on the brain, both positive and negative, that have nothing to do with brain cells dying.

First, the positive: drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis has been shown to have various positive effects on your body. The one that pertains to this article's topic is that it has been shown to help protect people from cognitive impairment as they age. According to a study done at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, in Italy, 29% of people 65 years or older who almost never drank alcohol throughout their life had mental impairment issues. On the flip-side of that, only about 19% of people 65 years or older who drank moderate amounts of alcohol regularly had any mental impairment.

It was further discovered that, among the various groups where other problems, such as health problems or the like, might impair them mentally, the same trend appeared. In every group, those who drank moderately on a regular basis throughout their lives always had a diminished chance of becoming mentally impaired in their old age compared to those who didn't drink at all or almost never drank.

http://gizmodo.com/drinking-alcohol-doesnt-actually-kill-brain-cells-1498785941

[PeteSelman]

1. I knew that.

I know a lot of drunks. None of them seem to have gotten dumber over the years. The same way weed heads don't get "burnt".

The people the were dumb before are still dumb and the people that were always smart stay smart.

[El Supremo]

2. Shanks, ith so nicey to know sthat!

[JI7]

3. wasn't this the excuse we always used for Bush

being the way he is

[Fumesucker]

4. I suspect this has to do with learning to deal with chemically induced impairment

We train our brains to work under suboptimal conditions so when they become naturally suboptimal through the aging process we can better deal with it.

As Robin Williams says, the first purpose of alcohol is to make English your second goddamn language.

[Major Nikon]

5. I'll drink to that

[AgingAmerican]

6. Wet Brain is caused by lack of B vitamins

Alcohol interferes with vitamin uptake. Over long periods of time, lack of B vitamins causes brain damage in severe alcoholics.

[scarletwoman]

7. Since some of the greatest writers in the world indulged in great quantities of alcohol,

this makes sense, imho.

But what do I know - I'm drinking...

[loyalsister]

8. Gizmodo.com?

The idiocy here is that the mythology stems from the mythology that any brain damage is brain cell death. Korsakoff's Syndrome and Wernicke's disease are both results of vitamin deficiency caused by long term drinking.
These articles remind me of a guy from Inbev who is at the MO state capitol every single day to block anything (including medical MJ) that the liquor industry fears will interfere with their profits. I'm already hearing them quoted by individuals who are anxious to legitimize their damaging behavior. One person who has a history of alcoholic pancreatitis backed up his decision to start drinking again by referencing the study minimizing the affects of alcohol on pregnant women.

Why is it that so many people feel threatened by the possibility of widespread recognition that alcoholism is a serious problem in this country?

[Nye Bevan]

10. Those syndromes are covered later in the article.

And I don't think anyone is denying that alcoholism is a serious problem.

[loyalsister]

12. I read the article

They mention those disorders in passing and claim...

"drinking moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis has been shown to have various positive effects on your body. The one that pertains to this article's topic is that it has been shown to help protect people from cognitive impairment as they age."

I pointed out that the fallacy was actually in the assumption that brain cell death is the cause of all neurological disorders. The article suggests that the negative effects have potential to increase production of brain cells.

The first time I saw such information used as an excuse was 30+ yrs ago when my very ill, alcoholic grandmother cited research regarding health benefits of red wine.

[Zorra]

9. Well, I s'pose it must be something else that's killin' 'em then.

Now get off my lawn!

[defacto7]

11. Announcing the new Jim Beam...

Now fortified with Vitamin B6 B12 Thiamine and Niacin!

[Initech]

13. "Oh Lisa, you and your stories. Bart is a vampire. Beer kills brain cells. "

"Now let's go back to that building.... thingy... where our beds and TV... is." - Homer Simpson.