I’m 19. I’m wondering what drinking like 3-4 drinks does to the brain if I drink like every other day. Aldo some weeks I only drink like twice and sometimes I drink every day, but usually its every other day to every three days. I’m worried if it would permanently damage my short term memory or anything like that.
In: Biology
Alcohol is actually toxic to the brain in the sense that it stimulates the GABA receptor which inhibit neuronal function, as well as it’s believed to disrupt the neuronal lipid bilayer. Usually these are temporary effects (except when the alcohol dose is too high, in which case the neuros suffer so much that it leads to coma and later death). However, long term repeated aggression on the most sensitive neurones (the ones related to memory) can lead to permanent short and then long term memory loss, as well as a bunch of other nasty conditions like dementia, encephalitis etc.
Alcohol also disrupts the liver enzymatic chain and it attacks liver enzymes, which with time will give cirrhosis and liver cancer.
Alcohol suppresses (slows down) brain activity and the nervous system. When you drink very often, your brain will take notice of that and will start making these chemical changes to balance the suppressing effects from the alcohol always being present. So then you become dependent on it, meaning you need it, kind of like food and water.
When you don’t drink for like 1-2 days, your body doesn’t like that and you get symptoms of withdrawal. So that’s why it’s not a good idea to drink daily, to not allow your brain to change it’s chemical balance.
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