Friday, October 16, 2015

Alcohol Improves Memory?!



There is no doubt alcohol abuse takes a serious toll on people all around the world. In the United States, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism1, about 88,000 people die annually from alcohol related deaths. This makes it the third leading preventable cause of death in the U.S. Not only is alcohol abuse a problem with our well-being, but can also cause insanely high economic burdens to our country. In 2006, it was recorded that $223.5 billion was spent by our country due to alcohol misuse problems. From liver diseases, to car accidents, to costing our economy billions of dollars, it is safe to say that alcohol consumption should be restricted in our country and all around the world. There is nothing good that comes out of drinking alcohol, right? Wrong! This statement is completely incorrect! Alcohol consumption is GOOD for you! So go ahead, crack open that beer, grab your bottle of wine or whatever else your heart desires… Or should I say what your brain desires?
Before I say anything else, let me make myself clear. Alcohol abuse is a serious problem around the world. The facts stated above are completely true. When I say alcohol consumption is good for you, the catch is that it must all be done in moderation, so don’t get too excited. That being said, let’s go back to drinking whatever your brain desires. An article titled “If you’re over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory”2 states that light alcohol consumption during later life is linked with a larger hippocampus volume, an area of the brain critical for our episodic memory. Animal studies show that light alcohol consumption can promote new nerve cells in the hippocampus. This can potentially counter cognitive impairments and improve our overall memory capabilities.
How can this be true though? Growing up I would always hear that alcohol consumption is bad for your health and that alcohol kills your brain cells. These surprising results that light consumption benefiting our memory can be explained through experimental studies involving moderate ethanol preconditioning (MEP) of rat brain cultures. MEP prevents neurodegeneration and suppresses neuroinflammatory proteins including gp120, the HIV protein associated with AIDS dementia. Preconditioning the hippocampal cultures with moderate ethanol of about 20-30 mM results in nearly complete neuroprotection. As stated before, the hippocampus is crucial for memory, so protection of hippocampal neurons can counter cognitive deterioration seen in Alzheimer’s disease and AIDS dementia. Who would have thought that ethanol (alcohol) would in fact protect our brain cells?!
Unfortunately, we cannot forget that moderation is absolutely crucial in all of this. The 20-30mM of ethanol used in the MEP studies to protect our neurons equals to about 4 to 5 drinks. 4 to 5 drinks however, is not moderate drinking for the average person. The CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) guidelines for moderate alcohol consumption is 1 drink for women and 2 drinks for men per day. So then what is the point to all of this? How can we intake the 20-30mM of ethanol needed to preserve our precious hippocampal neurons? The answer is found in wine.
It turns out that the combined effect of resveratrol, an antioxidant found in wine, and ethanol can have neuroprotective effects. One would need about 10mM of ethanol and 5mM of resveratrol, which can be consumed with 2-3 glasses of wine for men and about 1.5 glasses of wine for women. This is much more efficient than drinking 4 to 5 drinks a day! So there you have it. Alcohol can potentially benefit us all through neuroprotection IF done in moderation of course!

1)      http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/overview-alcohol-consumption/alcohol-facts-and-statistics
2)      http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131126155839.htm

No comments:

Post a Comment