June Russell's Health Facts http://www.jrussellshealth.com/

Alcohol - Brain Function, Memory, and Alzheimer's Disease

Alcohol and the Sense of Reality

Once you take that drink of alcohol, trillions of potent molecules surge through your blood stream and into your brain. Once there, they set off a cascade of chemical and electrical events, a kind of neurological chain reaction that ricochets around the skull and rearranges the interior reality of the mind. These molecules elevate the levels of dopamine, which are associated with the feelings of pleasure and elation. Dopamine can be elevated by a hug, a kiss, a word of praise or a winning hand in cards, as well as the potent pleasure that comes from drugs.
{“Addicted,” Time magazine, May 5, 1997}

Measurements of Cognitive Function

A controlled study of Navy pilots showed that flying after drinking can be dangerous for at least 14 hours. Although there was no measured alcohol in their bodies, they performed worse on the same tests they took before drinking.
{Harvard Medical School Mental Health Letter, Nov. 1987}

Research shows that alcohol adversely affects the brain. Statistically significant decreases in test performance have been found for people whose self-reported alcohol consumption was in the range of what was considered social drinking.
{“Alcohol Alert,” Alcohol and Cognition, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, May 1989}

One or two drinks of alcohol impair mental and physical abilities. Mental processes such as restraint, awareness, concentration and judgment are affected, reaction time is slowed and there is a resulting inability to perform complicated tasks.
{“The Effects of Alcohol and Other Drugs,” Motorcycle Safety Foundation, Irvine CA, 1991}

Alcohol has been shown to disrupt the processing of new information in the brain (cognitive processing). Alcohol may then be particularly disruptive to people with cognitive deficits.
{“Alcohol Research and Health,” Department of Health and Human Services, 1999}

Statistically significant decreases in test performance have been found in social drinkers. Certain deficits are correlated with alcohol consumption.
{‘Alcohol Alert’ from NIAAA - OnHealth.com - August 2000}

Relatively small amounts of alcohol impair processes in your brain that would normally detect errors in performance and help you instigate adjustments. {Nutrition Hints, "Alcohol and error performance," Hint #1020, Betty Kamen, PhD, and Dr. Michael Rosenbaum, MD Source: Science 2002, scienceexpress.org}

Effects on Memory

Cynthia Green, Director of the Memory Enhancement Program at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine in NY, and author of “The Memory Workout: Eight Easy Steps to Maximum Memory Fitness,” advises individuals to ‘go easy on the alcohol.’ Even moderate drinking appears to interfere with working memory. If working memory is damaged, information can't be stored in the long-term memory. Ms. Green also suggests getting a good night’s sleep, as sleep deprivation can impair memory.
{Washington Post Health, Dec. 14, 1999}

People with an inability to bring down high sugar levels, a pre-diabetic condition, are more likely to suffer from memory loss. This may help explain why memory loss occurs as we age. For every Alzheimer’s patient, there are eight elderly people who do not have dementia but whose quality of life is harmed by memory loss. Studies show that exercise and weight loss, which helps control blood sugar levels, may be able to reverse some of the memory loss that is associated with aging. Results of studies indicate that people who metabolized blood sugar slowly had a smaller hippocampus and scored worse on tests for recent memory. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, February 5, 2003). Many people cannot control their insulin levels with an excellent diet alone, and one of the most profound, beneficial effects of exercise is in lowering insulin levels. Regular cardiovascular exercise sensitizes the insulin receptors and lowers the amount of insulin that the body requires to control elevated blood sugar. {"Sugar May Hold the Key to Memory Problems," www.mercola.com - April 2003} Author’s comment: Alcohol use plays havoc with blood sugar levels, raises insulin levels and results in a smaller hippocampus.

The hippocampus is one brain region in which even moderate ethanol intake produces an array of debilitating effects - a disruption of the acquisition and performance of spatial reference memory tasks and a reduction of the overall level of glutamate released at synapses within the hippocampus - affecting learning and memory. {"Ethanol, Memory, and Hippocampal Function: A Review of Recent Findings," the Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio & Skipper Bowles Center for Alcoholic Studies, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 2000}

Cellular Effects and Related Behavorial Effects

Alcohol anesthetizes the brain long after leaving the blood, as much as twenty-four hours later.
{Tufts University Diet and Nutrition Newsletter, March, 1986}

Alcohol can cause a short-circuit in the brain’s communication networks that can give rise to seizures, depression, manic-depressive episodes and a host of mental problems.
{Robert Post, Researcher and Chief of the Biological Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health. Washington Post Health, Aug. 1993}

Alcohol and caffeine are two chemicals that have been documented to trigger either panic attacks or acute anxiety in susceptible individuals. Sixty-five million Americans suffer annually from anxiety and insomnia according to Harold Bloomfield, MD, in his book, “Healing Anxiety with Herbs,”1998.
{“Can Diet and Nutrition Affect the Mind?” by Joshua Leichtberg, MD, in Let’s Live magazine, April 1995}

Unlike other intoxicating substances, alcohol doesn't attach to specific brain receptors, but instead has far-reaching effects on many areas of the brain. One study suggests that moderate amounts of ethanol (the type of alcohol in beer, wine, and spirits) suppress activity in the hippocampus, a key area of the brain for learning and memory. However, alcohol increased activity in areas of the brain involved in emotion, processing sensory information, drug-seeking behavior, and areas activated by stress.
{Reuters Health Information Service, Dec. 1996}

When you consume alcohol, the body immediately begins to break it down. In the process, breakdown products called ethyl esters speed the movement of positively charged potassium ions from brain cells through the outer membranes, creating a negative charge within the cell. This impairs calcium channels; a bad thing since the brain cells rely on calcium to communicate with other cells throughout the body. When calcium concentrations decrease, so does brain cell communication, resulting in the behaviors we recognize as intoxication. It slurs speech, decreases your cognitive ability, and even relaxes inhibitions by breaking down inhibitory pathways which then leads to inappropriate behavior.
{Journal of Biological Chemistry, Dec. 20, 1996}

Alcohol temporarily blunts the effects of stress hormones, it typically leaves you feeling worse than ever because it depresses the brain and nervous system. One study looked at people who consumed one drink a day. After three months abstinence, their scores on standard depression inventories improved.
{"You Can Control Your Emotional Wellness," USA Weekend, Jan. 3, 1999}

The brain is the organ most sensitive to alcohol, and it receives less oxygen when alcohol is present, which adds to the feeling of fatigue. Alcohol has a depressant effect on the central nervous system and when this depressant is removed (cease drinking alcohol) there is a ‘rebound’ of sensitivity to stimuli.
{Duke University Web site, August 2000}

Many of ethanol's effects on learning and memory stem from altered cellular activity in the hippocampus and related structures. Evidence suggests that ethanol disrupts activity in the hippocampus by interacting directly with hippocampal neurons and by interacting with critical hippocampal afferent neurons (nerves). Mounting evidence suggests that cognitive abilities might be particularly sensitive to the effects of moderate doses of ethanol. Moderate doses of alcohol disrupt the acquisition and performance of spatial reference memory tasks, and reduce the overall level of glutamate released at synapses within the hippocampus.
{"Ethanol, Memory, and Hippocampal Function; A Review of Recent Findings," Aaron White and Phillip J. Best (from the Dept. of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio) and Douglas B. Matthews (Dept. of Psychology, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN} Wiley-Liss, Inc., 2000}

Another mechanism that connects alcohol and violence is that alcohol can cause a drinker to misjudge social cues causing a person to perceive a threat where none existed. The alcohol disrupts the judgment and reasoning center of the brain. {Miczek, 1997} In some men alcohol can release their aggressive tendencies and they become violent when they drink, but the violence was inside them before that first drink.
{alcoholmd.com - Oct. 2001}

Alcohol literally goes to your head faster than other foods. Unlike carbohydrate, fat, and protein, which must pass from the stomach to the small intestines before being absorbed into the blood stream, about 20% of the alcohol drunk goes directly from the stomach to the blood, and from there to the brain.
{Special supplement to the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, Feb. 2002}

Alcohol also disrupts the function of various other neurotransmitters including serotonin, endorphins and acetylcholine. Serotonin affects moods, appetite and sleep. Stimulation of serotonin in conjunction with the release of endorphins cause the feelings of pleasure from alcohol. Acetylcholine is the key transmitter in controlling cardiovascular mechanisms, including the dilation of blood vessels. It has also been suggested that alcohol may affect levels of catecholamines, a neurotransmitter. The obvious effect of long-term alcohol consumption is the loss of muscular coordination.
{"Effects of Alcohol on the Brain," Alcohol Research Center, LSUHSC - Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, August 2002}

Ethanol is a two-carbon alcohol and can be considered an active brain-drug and an all-purpose cellular toxin. Even moderate alcohol abuse distorts the personality, emotions, and intellect of the ‘social drinker', which is a direct consequence of brain dysfunction caused by ethanol and other chemical pathogens in alcoholic beverages. Even low doses of alcohol interfere with memory and make it difficult for the hippocampus to process new information. As a brain drug, ethanol acts to depress the brain function from the top down, very much in the style of an anesthetic. Acetaldehyde is particularly toxic. {nutramed.com - April 2003}

Depression of Brain Function and Release of Inhibitions

Alcohol taken in the evening or as a ‘nightcap’ is counterproductive. It helps you fall asleep but, hours later during the night, it has the opposite effect and keeps you awake.
{American Family Physician, 1995, in Health Gazette}

Alcohol is a central nervous depressant, or sedative. Even though it seems to "loosen people up," it does so by sedating the usual inhibitory mechanisms. Alcohol slows the brain actions and affects physical coordination and reaction time.
{"Alcohol - Beverage" by Elson Haas, MD, from Staying Healthy with Nutrition: The Complete Guide to Diet and Nutritional Medicine, healthynet.com - HealthWorld Online, June 2002}

Alcohol's direct action on the brain is as a depressant. It decreases the activity of the nervous system, inhibiting cells and circuits in the brain which themselves are normally inhibitory, in some cases this can increase their chance of talking more and becoming more active. Small amounts of alcohol (BAC of 0.03 to 0.12%) produce lowered inhibitions, feelings of relaxation, more self confidence, diminished judgment, reduced attention span, and slight incoordination. The use of alcohol tends to potentiate the mood of the user. Thus, if one is sad (as at a funeral), alcohol would tend to make you sadder, if happy (as at a party), happier. Alcohol may diminish some controls, possibly resulting in aggression and unwanted behaviors.
{"Alcohol, Chemistry and You," Kennesaw State University - chemcases.com - August 2002}

It has long been accepted that alcohol severely affects the ability of the brain to function. The senses are suppressed along with inhibitions and decision-making skills. Alcohol can have subtle effects on personality and emotions, and impairing cognitive abilities such as perception, learning and memory. The brain is flooded with alcohol whenever you drink, and one of the direct toxic effects of alcohol is its ability to change the production of neurotransmitters. There is sufficient research to support the fact that even in small doses, alcohol has an inhibitory effect on glutamate (causing the glutamate receptor to be up-regulated, especially in the hippocampus, and area of the brain responsible for memory and is related to epileptic seizures). GABA over-activity occurs as well.
{"Effects of Alcohol on the Brain," Alcohol Research Center, LSUHSC - Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, August 2002}

Brain Cell Death and Changes in Brain Function

Regular alcoholic drinking does kill brain cells. Alcohol may promote relaxation but it will compromise learning and memory.
{in the book “Buzzed,” Cynthia Kuhn, PhD, et al., Duke University Medical Center. 1998}

As little as a few days of intoxication can lead to loss of brain cells.
{U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in their 10th report to the U.S. Congress on Alcohol and Health, 2000}

Men lose brain tissue almost three times faster than women, and this loss may cause declines in memory, mood and abstract reasoning.
{ Associated Press, “Men’s brains shrink as they age, study finds,” The Daily Progress, a newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia, April 11, 1996, and “Health and Healing” newsletter, Dr. Julian Whitaker, May 2000} Alcohol use would increase this.

Alcohols are all toxic to humans. The effects of alcohol on the brain can occur by both direct and indirect means; indirectly through alcohol-induced deficiencies in nutrition, liver disease, and through alterations of the function of other bodily systems (e.g. immune, hormonal), which produce substances that end up in the blood and get transported to the brain.

The brain is the organ most sensitive to alcohol. It also receives less oxygen when alcohol is present, which adds to the feeling of fatigue the following morning.
{"Prevention Tips: Causes of a hangover," www.mbhealth.org - Oct. 2002}

The level of impairment begins with your first alcoholic drink.
{NCADI - Oct. 2002}

One of the permanent effects of alcohol on the brain is to reduce the amount of brain tissue and to increase the size of the ventricles instead. Another way in which alcoholic drinks affect the brain is through depriving it of food substances such as vitamins. Alcohol acts as a sedative on the central nervous system, depressing the nerve cells in the brain, dulling, altering and damaging their ability to respond. {"Alcohol - Effects on the Body," Drinksense Fact Sheets, gurney.co.uk - Nov. 2002}

Aging

Chronic (regular) alcohol consumption can constrict arteries in the brain and lead to neurological deficit. Aging makes us increasingly vulnerable to damage.
{"Alcohol Induced Hangover: Prevention," Life Extension - lef.org - Dec. 2000}

Italian maestro Arturo Toscanini conducted his last opera at age 84. Two-time Nobel laureate Dr. Linus Pauling published his best-known work, Vitamin C and the Common Cold, at age 69. Pablo Picasso remained a creative force in the art world throughout his 91 years, and Grandma Moses, who lived to the age of 101, didn't even start painting until her 70's. But unless you have a disease like Alzheimer's or an injury to the brain, such as a stroke, your chances of remaining mentally sharp throughout life are pretty good.
{Julian Whitaker, MD, "Health and Healing," newsletter, Feb. 2002} Editor's comment: The use of alcohol will lessen the chance of staying mentally alert. Even though it is reported that ischemic strokes are lessened with moderate use of alcohol, even small amounts of alcohol adversely affect the brain. For example, two to three drinks a week increase the chance of hemorrhagic stroke which result in more serious consequences than the ischemic stroke.
{JAMA}

Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia

Dementia affects 2.5 million people in the U.S., Alzheimer’s accounting for about 70%, says Muriel Gillick, MD, in “Tangled Minds: Understanding Alzheimer’s and other dementias.”

People who lack special enzymes needed to break down alcohol in their bodies have a greater chance (more than twice) of developing Alzheimer’s Disease. About 40% of Japanese are said to lack such enzymes, resulting in a low tolerance for alcohol.
{HealthCentral.com}

Although several studies have linked moderate alcohol use with a decreased risk of dementia, most of the studies involved European populations, and it was unclear if this association was also seen in elderly U.S. residents. The researchers reported in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, that drinking up to three glasses of wine each day may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s in individuals who did not have the APOE-e4 gene. The authors said that even if a true protective effect exists, wine’s ability to prevent Alzheimer’s disease may come “at the expense” of increasing other conditions.
{Reuters Health Information, nlm.nih.gov, MedlinePlus, Apr. 2004}

Even low to moderate amounts of alcohol may cause the brain to shrink, according to a Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Not only did low to moderate drinking fail to protect against strokes (as previously shown), but alcohol was associated with less tissue in two areas of the brain. The more alcohol consumed, the greater the loss of brain tissue, increasing the risk of cognitive and motor losses.
{Stroke, Dec. 4, 2003, in Environmental Nutrition, Jan.}

--- Alcohol and Antioxidants ---

Researchers at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College in New York found that rats fed a liquid diet containing moderate amounts of ethanol (alcohol) for six weeks had a 66.3% decrease in the number of new neurons and a 227 to 279% increase in cell death in the denate gyrus as compared to rats fed an alcohol-free diet. The denate gyrus is a part of the brain’s hippocampus, an integral part of our memory systems. “While neurons continue to develop, alcohol causes the new cells to die off before they mature,” lead researcher Dr. Daniel Herrera explained to Life Extension. “This damage, we proposed, may be caused by oxidative stress.” Antioxidants may help reduce the cognitive defects.
{“Antioxidants offset alcohol’s brain cell damage,” Life Extension, Jan. 2004, source: Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, June 24, 2003, Epub 2003, June 5}

The presence of alcohol hastens the breakdown of antioxidants in the blood, speeding their elimination from the body (CNN.com - July 2000), and alcohol changes the metabolism and absorption of vitamins/nutrients needed by the brain to function properly.

Any protective effect [of alcoholic beverage consumption] may be related to the antioxidants in some alcoholic beverages such as wine. This is what we do know about alcohol and dementia generally:

• Alcohol has a serious negative effect on the central nervous system.
• Alcohol can affect the brain directly as a neurotoxin.
• Alcohol can affect the brain indirectly. Both vitamin deficiency and liver damage can lead to brain shrinkage and brain damage.

There are over 150 medications commonly prescribed to older people that interact with alcohol. Depending on the drug, alcohol may make a particular drug work less well or not at all, can heighten its effect, or can be toxic.
{“Alcohol and Seniors,” agingincanada.ca, Feb. 2004}

--- Alcohol and Drug Interactions ---

Symptoms of memory loss may result from drinking alcohol while taking certain medications.
{Alzheimer’s Resource Room, Department of Health and Human Services, Feb. 2004}

--- Resveratrol and Alzheimer's Disease ---

Results of a recent study suggest that a molecule found in red wine may help to protect the brain against Alzheimer’s Disease. Dr. Egemen Savaskan of the University of Basel in Switzerland and colleagues studied the effects of resveratrol, an antioxidant thought to be responsible for many of the purported benefits of red wine, on brain cells. Resveratrol only protected the cells from beta-amyloid induced oxidative damage — not the cells from oxidative stress that was not caused by beta-amyloid. Dr. Savaskan warned that it was not a good idea for seniors to drink red wine to stave off the disease, because alcohol can be toxic to brain cells.
{“Alzheimer’s Disease,” reported by ReutersHealth.com, Dec. 31, 2003}   Editor's comment: just because resveratrol is found in wine doesn’t make it true that wine is healthy — in fact, the presence of alcohol hastens the breakdown of antioxidants in the blood, speeding their elimination from the body. {Source: CNN.com, 2000} Also there are studies and expert commentaries that question the health giving benefits of resveratrol.

Resveratrol, a flavonoid or plant substance found in red wine and grape juice, is an antioxidant that may benefit people with Alzheimer’s Disease. Because the alcohol in red wine may contribute to falls, interactions with medications, and sleepiness, it is not recommended for those with this condition.
{“Alzheimer’s Disease,” ivillagehealth.com, Apr. 2004}

--- Vaccines Can be Risky ---

Three years ago Alzheimer’s patients received a vaccine designed to stimulate their immune system to attack a protein that clumps in the brain, but the trial stopped because some of the patients (15 of the 360) developed serious inflammation of the brain. The developers of the vaccine, the Irish company Elan Corp., presented research from brain scans showing atrophy in some of the patient’s brains, including the hippocampus, a region involved in memory. In general, brain atrophy is considered a sign that the brain cells are dying.
{“Vaccine made brains shrink,” PROVE, newsletter@vaccineinfo.net, July 2004}

Risk of Stroke Increased

Even light drinking, two or three drinks a week, can double the risk of stroke (hemorrhage of the brain).
{JAMA 1986}

Social drinking is not without problems. Those who should not drink: women who are pregnant or trying to conceive; people who plan to drive or engage in other activities that require attention or skill; people taking medication, including over-the-counter medications; recovering alcoholics; persons under the age of 21, and it is contraindicated for people with certain medical conditions such as peptic ulcer. Moderate alcohol consumption increases the potential risk of strokes caused by bleeding, although it decreases the risk of strokes caused by blocked blood vessels (CAMARGO, C.A., "Moderate alcohol consumption and stroke: the epidemiological evidence," Stroke 1989) {Alcohol Alert, NIAAA, 1992}

Each year, 500,000 Americans suffer a stroke. A stroke is a hemorrhage of a blood vessel in the brain, that kills millions of brain cells, or a spasm pinches a major artery, depriving the brain of oxygen. Strokes kill 150,000 people annually. Limit alcohol or don't drink.
{“What Medicine Will Conquer Next,” Nov. 5, 1995, Parade}

Although moderate drinking may reduce the risk of certain types of stroke, and scarring in the core of elderly's people's brains, it may also promote shrinkage of the brain, a condition found in Alzheimer's patients and also linked to dementia. Every drink is associated with greater brain shrinkage. These findings were based on MRI scans of the brains of over 3,000 people over the age of 65, and appeared in the recent issue of 'Stroke,' a journal of the American Heart Association.
{"Light drinking: new risks, rewards," AP, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, September 28, 2001} Author's comments: The use of even smaller amounts of alcohol (two to three times a week) doubles the risk of hemorrhagic strokes says JAMA.)