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Brains can recover from alcoholic damage

physorg.com — But patients should stop drinking as soon as possible. Findings published today in the online edition of the journal Brain, used sophisticated scanning technology and computer software to measure how brain volume, form and function changed over six to seven weeks of abstinence from alcohol in 15 alcohol dependent patients (ten men, five women).

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 18, 2006

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41 Comments

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  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26When you drink, you're killing off the weakest cells anyway. Makes your brain more efficient. That's why alcoholics are so articulate and precise.
  • sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17Nope, your liver's F*ed.
  • jbreiding, on 10/26/2009, -1/+14Yes I have always found I think more articulate and precise when I am drunk, however my slurring tends to make me sound retarded.

    Guinness anyone?
  • kremvax, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13You would think so, but take a look at President Bush. Drying him out clearly did not make him any smarter.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10what makes you think he stopped drinking?
  • stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9No remedy for cocaine/methamphetemine damage. He is a chimp forever.
  • t4k3n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8its 9 am.... and don't you have an out-standing DUI...
    yeah but i gotta get the taste of weed and hooker spit out of my mouth.....

    Sam Adams .. never a bad decision
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8No thanks,

    I'll stick to shotgunning ma Tennents Super, with a Polish Vodka chaser.

    i love ya, ya bastard, yer ma best mate
  • Stonedonkey, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6"Drying him out clearly did not make him any smarter."

    He switched to pretzels, and we all know how that turned out :(
  • jonshipman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4who said he was dry?
  • pixelmixer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I'm glad you did better... but notice the age difference... people learn as they grow older.

    i don't know anything about the ASVAB test, but it sounds to me like you scored higher simply because you grew older and wiser, not because you stopped drinking...

    If you had taken it in '96 and got a 68 before you stopped... then again a few years later, like in 2000 and got a 93, then maybe I would see some significant difference.
  • heffer2k02, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8I've been drinking fairly heavily since about 18 (7 years), and I've definately noticed my brain is a lot worse than that of my peers. I used to be very quick thinking and sharp. My only real interests these days are finding easy ways to make money so I can party and, well, get drunk. Despite that though, the only real time I'm unhappy with life is when I'm tired/hungover and have to go to work.
    So, if one of my money making plans comes to fruition and I no longer need to worry financially, I can't see any real harm in keeping my brain nicely toasted! Ozzy Osbourne style (although he did eventually have to give up, after attempting to kill his wife I think!).
  • BuffalOBisoN, on 10/12/2007, -4/+7So there's hope for me? ;-)
  • Chibioz, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Do medications prescribed to treat anxiety have similar damaging effects on the brain like alcohol?
  • reyAMPS, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3doubt it, look at Bush.
  • noseeme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Stop drinking?

    NEV4RRRRRR!!!
  • crh3f, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3a lazy liver is a fatty liver...drinking is like exercise for your liver...drink up!
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No, but there are different kinds of medications used to treat anxiety- several different trees, each work differently.
  • stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The brain has a vast number of unused, or marginally used cells that can be brought online to replace the dead ones.
  • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"patients often become discouraged from the physical and cognitive difficulties of achieving and maintaining sobriety."

    Eyyyyyep.
  • neko, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I heard alcohol makes you stupid.
  • funkspiel, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I quit drinking five years ago and can proudly state that I am less of a loser now than I would be otherwise.
  • tripm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh thank God!

    Now how about the damage from all that glue I sniffed?!
  • CrimsonBlur, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Oh thank Science! This is great news for, ah... you know, people who drink too much... because I know some people, yeesh!
  • eddieo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@pixelmixer, All good points thanks. I am older, and a little wiser. Some folks I hung with back then are still doing the same thing, drinkin and druggin. I don't see them as getting wiser. Shame though.
    I guess this post will be dugg down as well.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But you can repair damaged ones, and the neurons have been observed to be replaceable and rebuildable in many cases, due to stem cells in the brain.

    There have been cases of brain-damaged patients whose neural pathways have completely re-routed themselves to bypass the damaged section, restoring function by over 50%.
  • defunctlife, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Actually excessive alcohol abuse can cause fatty cell deposits in the liver :)
  • berwiki, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4the only problem with that theory is that Alcohol weakens all brain cells. So yes, you kill the weak cells, but you just hurt all your strong ones. Which will get killed off next week, etc, etc.

  • stonebear, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1“So, if one of my money making plans comes to fruition and I no longer need to worry financially, I can’t see any real harm in keeping my brain nicely toasted!”

    You go boy! The world definitely needs more stupid rich people.
  • BuffalOBisoN, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I think I kill more brain cells by driving in LA with my windows down than any amount of booze could inflict. ..oo00Cough00oo..
  • washcapsfan37, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Good news, coz my brain no function beer well without.
  • nbcivic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i'll take a sam adams too
  • BLBK, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I believe this is formally known as Buffalo Theory: http://www.shortfamilyonline.com/jokes/submitted/cheers-buffalo-theory.php
  • intense321, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1For some reason I read this as, "GROINS can recover from alcoholic damage."
  • sfpiano, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0I'm confused as to what this volume is being replaced with since you can't regenerate neurological cells.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Causality vs. correlation, etc.
  • nexus79, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0:-)

    Although, in his case.. I have a feeling he was never smart to begin with, so there's not a whole lot of good cells in that head of his to kill, y'know what I mean?
  • pavetheforest, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0maybe my brain gets smarter but after a few rounds my eyes get dumb and standards get dumber
  • ismokedope, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1Could be that you are older. Don't count on being smarter, though.
  • eddieo, on 10/12/2007, -9/+4I stopped drinking in 1996. I think my brain has improved somewhat. For example in 1984 I took the ASVAB, a military entrance exam, I scored a 68. I was 18.
    I took the exam again in July '06, I scored a 93.
    Some brain cells are toast but I think I am smarter now.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -7/+1My brain won't.

    /dook dook dook

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