Posted on 11/27/2004 7:05:27 PM PST by neverdem
REALLY?
THE FACTS When ancient Greeks wanted to reassure guests that their wine had not been spiked with poison, they toasted to good health. While that may be less of a worry today, there remain hazards from indulging in too much alcohol - including, of course, hangovers. But one thing people who drink socially probably don't need to worry about is sacrificing brain cells in the process.
The research indicates that adults who drink in moderation are not in danger of losing brain cells.
The notion that alcohol snuffs out brain cells has been around for years. Many studies have linked drinking with mental deficits, and long-term damage from years of heavy drinking has been well documented. The developing brain is particularly vulnerable, some studies show, putting teenagers and unborn children at greatest risk.
But Dr. Roberta J. Pentney, a former researcher at the State University of New York at Buffalo, found that alcohol disrupts brain function in adults by damaging message-carrying dendrites on neurons in the cerebellum, a structure involved in learning and motor coordination. This reduces communication between neurons, alters their structure and causes some of the impairment associated with intoxication. It does not kill off entire cells, however.
A study in 1999 that examined the brains of alcoholics appeared to confirm this. Published in the journal Neuroscience, the research found that subjects who developed Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a severe disorder that ravages the memory and stems from a thiamine deficiency associated with alcoholism, had a marked reduction in cell density in the cerebellum.
But there was little difference between alcoholics who did not develop the syndrome and normal subjects, suggesting that it was largely a lack of thiamine in the Wernicke-Korsakoff patients that killed off their cells.
Other studies, including one published in The British Medical Journal in 1997, have produced similar findings.
THE BOTTOM LINE Alcohol may not kill brain cells per se, but it can impair brain function, among other things.
ANAHAD O'CONNOR
scitimes@nytimes.com
LOL........A few more. Let me look for em .....
I keep staring, but I don't see any boat!
I'll try again...and again...
Here's to you, and here's to me. And hopes we never disagree.
But just in case we ever do, Here's to me and to Hell with you.
Best Regards.
The young ladies nose is the "bump" on the old ladies nose....The young ladies ears is the old ladies eyes.....
Mess up again and ya have to lay off the mudslides !....:o)
Breathing kills brain cells.
You know the old adage: Brains cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever!
BBC kills brain cells!
Did ya have to mention the fat cells? I lost my job a year ago ( great Buffalo economy) and have put on a few pounds sitting at the computer. Of sourse, drinking mudslides does not help.
YIKES!
Of COURSE, looks like I was going to type souse.
I was looking at the "optical illusion" link when wifey happens to look!
"What is it!!?"
bump for when sober
What's the orficulty, difficer?
LMFAO
Why it's a boat..........:o)
Well! That explains...
...uh...
...what was the question?
I'm was stone cold sober until I saw that. Had to down a bottle of scotch just to bring it into focus.
ooohhh - whaat has i did?
uh - as i waash shayin - les have nothr rownd.
Beer has been helping ugly people have sex for 3500 years.
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