Is Alcohol actually Dangerous?

Commonly throughout society today, people constantly remind people about the dangers of drinking. People remind you about the fine line between having an occasional drink and becoming an alcoholic. It is well noted about the negative aspects of drinking alcohol such as loss of motor function, can lead to multiple types of cancer, and can also affect a person mentally. On the other hand, Recently there have been studies that show light to moderate alcohol use can actually have a positive impact on your health. One of the speakers in my neuroscience seminar class, Michael Collins discusses his paper regarding the fact that light to moderate alcohol use actually have a lower risk of dementia and cognitive decline. His study focuses on the fact that light to moderate alcohol use preconditions the brain. Specifically, it prevents neurodegeneration through its impact on important proteins involve in dementia like Alzheimer’s disease and AIDS dementia. To show an example of this model, within the study Collins looked at a protein called gp120, which is a major protein linked to AIDS dementia that causes neuronal degeneration. But when the used moderate ethanol preconditioning before adding gp120 to cells they observed complete neural protection.  Collins concludes his study by stating that light to moderate alcohol will reduce a persons chance of age related cognitive decline and dementia by preconditioning your brain to processes that are associated with brain aging.  This is something that I found extremely interesting. A study had proved that controlled alcohol consumption actually has benefits for your health. What made this study even more interesting in my mind was its relation to another news article.  An article I read on Scientific American discussed how drinking alcohol, even heavily can have a positive impact as well, specifically in relation to ALS.  ALS is a disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord leading to a loss in voluntary muscle action. ALS can also lead people to lose the ability to breath, speak, and eat.  The article I found notes that individuals classified as problem drinkers were half as likely to be diagnosed with ALS. A study in rats has shown that alcohol consumption is linked to the destruction of brain cells called Astrocytes. Astrocytes have high levels of a protein that is linked to ALS. Beyond this information, it is relatively unknown how alcohol use actually lowers people’s chances of ALS.

            Both of these articles shed light on how Alcohol consumption can have a positive impact on neuronal diseases. Collins study showed that light to moderate alcohol use can decrease chance of dementia, while the article on Scientific American showed how alcohol use, even heavy usage can lead to a decrease in chances of getting ALS. What makes these two findings so interesting is the dilemma I introduced at the very beginning of the blog, that being there is a very fine line between the benefits and damages of Alcohol. For example there are many other factors that these studies have not discussed. For one, is how does light to moderate alcohol use in association with smoking effect the body. Does it still have the same effect? Furthermore, what is the trade off between a decrease in neuronal diseases and an increase in diseases associated to other parts of the body? For example, moderate alcohol use may decrease your chances of cognitive decline, but at what expense. Moderate Alcohol use may still increase your chances of colon and liver cancer. Another example of these trade offs is mentioned in the article on Scientific American as well. A tweet by ALS advocacy in response to the article read, “People who have struggled with alcoholism may not have ALS diagnosed promptly or at all. Slurred speech. Stumbling. Will doc look for ALS?”.

            Overall, the study by Michael Collins and the article on Scientific American are clear breakthroughs in the field of science. It is extremely interesting how alcohol, something that has become increasingly frowned upon has significant health benefits. But at the same time I believe that there has to be more studies performed looking at this topic. We have to perform these studies so we can fully understand the effects of alcohol on our bodies as a whole. The lecture from my neuroscience class and the article, although very interesting, have left me with a big question. Is the same light/moderate consumption of alcohol that helps lower my chances of different neurological disorders also damaging other areas of my body such as my liver and colon, and if so what further studies can we perform to find out if one potential effect outweighs the other potential damage.

Collins, M., Neafsey, E., Wang, K., Achille, N., Mitchell, R., & Sivaswamy, S. (2010). Moderate Ethanol Preconditioning of Rat Brain Cultures Engenders Neuroprotection Against Dementia-Inducing Neuroinflammatory Proteins: Possible Signaling Mechanisms. Molecular Neurobiology Mol Neurobiol, 420-425.

Stix, G. (2015, February 6). Does drinking alcohol—even heavily—protect against ALS? Retrieved October 15, 2015, from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/talking-back/does-drinking-alcohol-protect-against-als/