this post was submitted on 26 Mar 2024
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It does... That's what causes the brain to shrink in alcoholics. Because it's a neurotoxin? You admit it yourself, weird take.
The thing is the "myth" was "debunked" for a while because medical science thought brain cells couldn't be replaced, because they couldn't identify the replacement mechanism. If alcohol just killed brain cells outright brain death would happen pretty quickly compared to cirrhosis.
The problem with that idea is it's just wrong. Modern studies proved that not only can brain cells be replaced, it happens frequently, as part of normal bodily functions.
Of course, because it is normal, casual drinkers don't really need to worry about it, and it's really only a problem if you're regularly getting blackout drunk. Only severe alcoholics are going to actually run into health problems in that regard, and even then their liver is almost guaranteed to fail first.
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/49024/does-drinking-alcohol-kill-brain-cells
“When this alcohol reaches the brain, it doesn’t kill the cells. What it does is inhibit the communication between dendrites, or branching connections at the ends of neurons that send and receive information between neurons, in the cerebellum, a part of the brain involved in motor coordination. This poor communication results in some of the typical impairments of intoxication. Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis found that alcohol, even when applied directly to neurons, didn’t kill them. It just interfered with the way they transmit information. Specifically, the researchers showed that alcohol causes certain receptors on neurons to manufacture steroids that inhibit memory formation. “
Nothing I said was incorrect as far as I can tell.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/this-is-your-brain-on-alcohol-2017071412000
The body is a funny thing. You don't need to kill a cell directly to cause cellular death, you can, for example, impair cellular fluid replenishment, short circuit repair functions, prevent replication, cause DNA damage that triggers immune responses, etc.
Now, one of the problems with these studies is you can't do brain biopsies on living subjects because of, you know, medical ethics, so it's always possible the shrinkage is a result of fluid loss that just happens to impair memory as well, so the cells are technically alive, but useless.
You very well might be correct that alcohol doesn't directly kill brain cells, but I think you should ask yourself whether being correct on the technicalities is worth more than being correct on the results in this matter.
There simply is not a safe amount of alcohol to consume for brain health.
That's why you should switch to LSD instead.
I also wasn’t trying to say alcoholism is healthy anywhere, in fact I was saying the opposite. I don’t understand why you’re coming at me right now.
But I’d be fine with switching to LSD as the social norm no problem, it’s more fun anyway. It’s just hard to find 12 hours to be high for haha
As somebody who used to be a functional alcoholic, here’s how I like to put it to people simply: The brain doesn’t operate independently of the body. If you’re consuming something that negatively affects systems across the entire body, even if the short term effects on the brain aren’t as severe as those other parts, it will still end up affected. If you’re a drinker and you’re noticing long-term effects in your brain, you’ve likely by that point already done much more severe damage to your other internal organs. That damage affects your brain’s ability to take care of itself, among other things. Let’s just say it’s best to not let things get to that point.
That’s a good point too. Alcohol damages your body. This is undisputed fact. I get annoyed though with guys like this who tell easily verifiable lies and then starts telling people “YOU’RE STUPID BECAUSE YOU DRINK” and being a dumbass about it. Enjoying drinking in moderation doesn’t make you stupid or irresponsible, this guy fuck all the way off with that shit.