Friday, July 3, 2009

Effects of Alcohol in your Brain

Many people, especially drinkers, believe that drinking alcohol in moderation can be beneficial to ones health. But did you know that there are still no proven studies about that?

Well, to most individuals, they will probably believe that alcohol when consumed in moderate amounts can improve their health. But doctors already have their word about it. Dr. Tim Naimi who is an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as Dr. Mercola who is a renowned nutrition expert, already state that there are still no proven facts about moderate drinking. Dr. Naimi also articulates that, “The bottom line is there has not been a single study done on moderate alcohol consumption and mortality outcomes that is a ‘gold standard’ kind of study -- the kind of randomized controlled clinical trial that we would be required to have in order to approve a new pharmaceutical agent.”

So this is a major call to all alcohol drinkers out there.

Actually, there is also a study being done by the researchers to examine the effects of alcohol to the brain of an individual. Eight men and seven women who drank alcohol through a straw have been examined by researchers while lying in an MRI scanner.

As a result, just around 6 minutes after consuming alcohol which is equivalent to three beers, changes had already taken place to the brain cells of the examined drinkers. This is a report done by the Live Science. After drinking the certain amount of alcohol, drinkers’ brains began to run on the sugar in alcohol instead of glucose. As we all know, glucose is the normal brain food.

Aside from this, it was also observed that the substance creatine, which protects brain cells, was also decreased as the concentration of alcohol increased. The concentration of another substance which is Choline, a component of cell membranes, was reduced as well.

Therefore, the actual test may probably mean that alcohol triggers changes in the composition of a person’s cell membranes.

Other research also shows that drinking alcohol may also lead to breast cancer, liver disease, heart damage, cancers, accidents even when consumed in small amounts and strokes when consumed in larger amounts.

In short, the doctors believe that the type of science that has been used to support that drinking wine or alcohol even in moderation is healthy for drinkers is just some of the WEAKEST science that we have in epidemiological observations.

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