Understanding the Effects of Alcohol on the Brain

Excessive use of Alcohol effects the brain. If you can consume limited alcohol, then it cannot harm your brain and other body parts; excessive consumption can affect your body and brain. Alcohol is the most common drink used in the world. People can use it for enjoyment, party drinks, status symbols, to reduce stress, etc. Nowadays, youngsters and teenagers use alcohol as a status symbol. They waste their valuable time drinking alcohol, drugs, etc., which causes great loss in their career, unemployment, growth rate, development, and unskilledness. etc., alcohol causes a big impact on health, like obesity, strokes, digestive problems, etc.

How Alcohol Effects the Brain

It is made up of ethanol, which is a kind of chemical. People drink alcohol for enjoyment, fun, relaxation, calmness, etc. They reach the brain within 5 minutes and begin to affect both your brain and body. They can affect the brain health as well as the body. The effects of alcohol on the brain, such as:

• Neural problem: Neurotoxicity causes a change in the function of any portion or part of the nervous system, such as the brain, nervous system, and spinal cord.
• Change in neurotransmitters: It can help in transferring messages from one cell to another cell. Without neurotransmitters, the brain cannot connect with muscles. It can help in various functions like muscle functions, blood flow, maintaining heartbeats, controlling stress and emotions, etc.
• Change in mood and behaviour: Alcohol can change the mood and behaviour of a person. Alcohol can change the state of mind. If you can drink a little, then it is beneficial, as you feel stress-free, emotional, and natural.
• Reduce creativity and memory: Alcohol can reduce creativity and memory of mind. Because your brain cannot think positively, you cannot make the right decision.

What Happens in the Brain When You Drink Alcohol?

First of all, after consuming alcohol, it can enter our stomach and after that it circulates in our tissues through the blood. Alcohol can reach the brain after 5 minutes of consumption. It can affect our body after 10 minutes of consumption. After 20 minutes of consumption, the liver starts processing the alcohol. It can be present in our urine up to 80 hours after consumption. And 3 months in our hair follicles. Alcohol impacts our brain and neurotransmitters such as GABA and Glutamates, which work in opposite ways, and alcohol can change brain chemistry slowly. There are some neurotransmitters, such as:

• GABA: It can help calm our bodies and provide relaxation after consuming low-level alcohol. So people drink to avoid stress, pain, etc.
• Lazines: It can help in increasing interest and excitement. After consuming alcohol, you feel less alert and less active. Your nervous system works slowly.

There are some immediate effects of alcohol, such as:

• Feeling relaxed: People feel relaxed and calm. Because the nervous system works slowly after consuming alcohol.
• Vomiting: After excessive drinking of alcohol, the stomach cannot digest it. Because it has its own limit, people vomit them.
• Lack of focus: Excessive drinking causes a lack of concentration and focus because it can reduce the ability to understand. So people feel anxious.
• lowered inhibitions: In these situations, people can behave naturally and be real. They can remove shyness and overthinking.

Side Effects of Abusing Alcohol on Brain Function

Here are some short-term side effects and long-term side effects of alcohol on brain function:

Short-Term Effects of Alcohol on Brain Function

Alcohol can affect our brain function within 10 minutes after consumption. There are various changes you can see in your body as well as your mind, like feeling relaxed, vomiting, head pain, loss of coordination, lack of focus, and poor decision-making etc. There are some short-term effects of alcohol, such as:

• Change in mental ability: Alcohol can make various changes in our body, such as a lack of attention, feeling less relaxed, and a lack of focus.
• Behavioural changes: After consuming alcohol, your behaviour would change, as you behave naturally and emotionally.
• Memory loss: Drinking alcohol causes memory loss. Because it can reduce the learning power, you cannot memorise anything easily.
• Concentration: Alcohol can reduce concentration capacity. You cannot concentrate on anything.

Long-Term Side Effects of Alcohol on the Brain

If you can drink in large quantities, then it will affect your brain in the long term, and you can experience various changes like depression, mental health-related problems, migraine, etc.
Due to a bad lifestyle and excessive consumption of alcohol. The risk of alcohol related neurological disorders is increasing day by day, such as:

• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome: It is a memory loss and brain disorder. It is created due to a lack of Thiamine (vitamin B1), which can help in converting food into energy. Symptoms of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are cancer, kidney failure, heart failure, etc.
• Dementia: It is a group of diseases that can affect a person’s mood, behaviour, etc. Excessive consumption of alcohol can increase the chances of anxiety and depression. Because it can reduce thinking level and mental health. So if you want to avoid anxiety and depression, then reduce your consumption of alcohol.

How Alcohol’s Effects on Brain Development

Alcohol can destroy the future and brain development of the youth. They can reduce the creativity and thinking level of youth. It causes memory loss, reduces learning capacity, emotional control, and attention in studies, etc. It can change the neural structure of the brain. Alcohol affects teenagers, as it can change their behaviour during their youth, increasing the chances of injury and accidents, and damaging their reputation and relationships. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) is a type of disorder that is found in women. when they drink alcohol during pregnancy. It causes improper growth of the baby. They can kill the cells of an infant and reduce the blood flow. It can affect the physical and mental growth of an infant. Fetal alcohol syndrome disorder is arising day by day because of new trends and modern lifestyles.

Can the Brain Recover from Alcohol Damage?

With the help of some methods, we can recover our brain, but it takes time. If you can follow guidelines, rules and regulations, then you can easily recover in a few days and months.
It takes a short time to recover if the damage is in the starting stage, or sometimes it takes a long time. If you follow a proper diet, exercise, and take proper rest and medication, then it takes a short time to recover. Neurotransmitters like GABA and glutamates can easily recover within a few days or a week. It can help in improving your memory, attention, learning capacity, etc. There are some stages where the brain can recover itself, such as Neuroplasticity: Neuroplasticity is a state where the brain can learn, grow, and make neural connections. It is the ability of learning new things. There are basically two types of inclusion:

• Functional plasticity: In this situation, the brain can move from the damaged stage to the undamaged stage. This type of recovery arises in the situation of injury and accident.
• Structural plasticity: In this situation, the brain can change its structure, and new cells are formed. The size of the brain is increasing.

There are some therapies to control alcohol addiction, such as:

• Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy is a type of therapy in which a psychotherapist can read the mind, emotions, and background, and then they try to convert an unhealthy mind into a healthy one.
• Medication: In this therapy, doctors use medicine to control alcohol addiction of alcohol. They use various types of medicine to reduce alcohol addiction
• Social connections: Social connections also help in controlling alcohol addiction because people are sharing their views and problems with others, and they are busy. Free time also creates many mental problems, so try to engage in some things that can help the brain recover from alcohol.

Tips for Protecting Your Brain Health

There are basic tips that can help in protecting the brain from stressful environments, such as junk foods, ex consumption of alcohol, work load, etc., which can affect the health of the brain. So these are the tips to protect brain health and reduce alcohol effects:

• Proper sleep: Take proper rest, and the minimum sleeping hours are 7, and the maximum is 8 hours. If you cannot get proper sleep, then it causes lack of attention, irritation, lack of concentration, etc.
• Social connections: Social connections are the most important instrument for a healthy brain because if you have good social connections, then you learn positive things, and always engage in something.
• Consume limited alcohol: consuming limited alcohol cannot harm your body or brain. Safe alcohol consumption can make your heart, liver, and mind well and calm. So take alcohol in moderation for a healthy brain.
• Regular checkup: A Regular checkup is very important for health because it can provide proper information about your body, etc. Nowadays, drinking alcohol is a new trend in our society. Most commonly in youth, they consume alcohol like water.

Conclusion

Excessive use of alcohol can badly affect the function of the body and brain; it can change the way one thinks and focuses, etc. There are various health-related problems are arise from alcohol, like strokes, depression, liver problems, digestive problems, etc. To avoid these problems, here are some brain health tips to control alcohol brain effects, such as taking a proper diet, avoiding alcohol, and making social connections, doing meditation and yoga, limited consumption of alcohol, regular checkups, etc. For a healthy brain, you must take additional supplements, vitamins like omega-3, fish oil, minerals, fibres, etc., that can improve the health of the brain.