1/🧵 Does Alcohol shrink the brain?
Yes, all liquor can hurt our brains if we drink too much. The disease of Alcoholism, which is NOT the fault of the person afflicted, causes brain injury slowly over time.
A picture is worth 1,000 words. Look below at a diseased brain…
2/ Gray on this CT scan indicates actual brain tissue.
Do you see the black areas pointed out here by RED arrows?
These are called sulci (grooves).
This <40 year old person has VERY large grooves that show the amount of brain tissue as we would see in someone >80 w dementia.
3/ Normally brain grooves are small in young people. See example👇.
When someone gets dementia, s/he can lose actual brain tissue (less gray) and the area fills in with fluid (BLACK - sulci).
SO this is atrophy & manifest in life as memory problems & executive dysfunction.
4/ Patients with this problem are high risk for #delirium – eg, hallucinations, delusions, global brain problems.
The key to healing includes acute medical management and long-term recovery programs possibly w cognitive rehabilitation.
WebMD review:
wb.md/3OD4NF6
5/ Data: @TheLancetPH
Researchers analyzed data from more than a million adults in France diagnosed w dementia 2008 to 2013. They found that chronic, heavy drinking was a major risk factor for all dementia, especially early onset dementia.
Link: bit.ly/3MANi6H
6/fin
Everything in Moderation.
Alcohol is an elixir if imbibed in moderation. In 🧵👇, I went over all this.
To ease suffering, we must help our brothers/sisters find a path to long-term recovery.
Never blame. Never shame. Healing occurs one day at a time #ODAT
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