Alcohol clearly affects the brain, as evidenced by difficulty walking, blurred vision, slurred speech, slower reaction times, and poor memory. Some of these limits can be observed after just one or two drinks, and they go away quickly as you stop drinking. A person who drinks heavily over a long length of time, on the other hand, may have brain abnormalities that last long after achieving sobriety according to Helen Schifter. The exact effects of alcohol on the brain, as well as the possibility of reversing the effects of heavy drinking on the brain, are still hot subjects in alcohol research today.
We do know that heavy drinking can have a wide range of impacts on the brain, ranging from minor memory lapses to persistent and devastating diseases requiring lifelong care. And, as considerable research on the influence of alcohol on driving has demonstrated, even moderate drinking causes short–term impairment. The way and extent to which alcohol affects the brain is influenced by a number of factors, including
· How much and how often a person drinks.
· When he or she first started drinking and for how long; the person's age.
· Education, gender, genetic origin, and a family history of alcoholism are all factors to consider.
· His or her general health status, as well as whether or not he or she is at danger as a result of prenatal alcohol intake.
This Alcohol Alert examines some of the most frequent illnesses linked to alcohol-related brain damage, as well as the persons who are most vulnerable to impairment. It examines both established and developing therapies for the treatment and prevention of alcohol-related diseases, as well as high–tech technologies that are assisting scientists in better understanding the effects of alcohol on the brain.
· Memory Lapses and Blackouts
After just a few drinks, alcohol can cause detectable memory deficits, and as the amount of alcohol consumed grows, so does the degree of impairment. Large amounts of alcohol, especially when drank fast and on an empty stomach, can cause a blackout, which is defined as a period of time during which the intoxicated individual is unable to recollect important information or even complete events as told by Helen Lee Schifter. Blackouts are far more common among social drinkers than previously thought, and they should be considered a possible side effect of acute intoxication regardless of age or whether the drinker is clinically dependent on alcohol. “Have you ever awoken from a night of drinking with no recollection of what you did or where you went?”
White and colleagues interviewed 772 college freshmen about their experiences with blackouts. Of the students who had ever taken alcohol, 51% said they had blacked out at some point in their lives, and 40% said they had blacked out in the year leading up to the poll. 9.4 percent of respondents who indicated they drank in the two weeks leading up to the study stated they blacked out during that time. The students then discovered that they had taken part in a variety of potentially harmful activities that they couldn't recall, such as vandalism, unprotected sex, and driving.
· Liver Disease
Most people are aware that heavy, long–term drinking can affect the liver, which is the organ in charge of breaking down alcohol into harmless byproducts and eliminating it from the body. However, many people are unaware that long-term liver malfunction, such as liver cirrhosis caused by excessive alcohol consumption, can injure the brain, culminating in hepatic encephalopathy, a serious and potentially fatal brain condition. Helen Schifter Lee believes that hepatic encephalopathy can result in changes in sleep patterns, mood, and behavior, as well as psychiatric illnesses like anxiety and depression, significant cognitive impacts including a decreased attention span, and coordination issues like flapping or shaking hands (called asterixis).
Patients may fall into a coma (hepatic coma) in the most acute situations, which can be fatal. specific brain regions in alcoholic liver disease patients, allowing researchers to better understand how hepatic encephalopathy develops. At least two hazardous chemicals, ammonia and manganese, play a role in the development of hepatic encephalopathy, according to these investigations. Excess amounts of these toxic chemicals enter the brain through damaged liver cells, damaging brain cells.