Bible Verse of the Day

“A psalm of David. The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” -Psalm 23:1-3 Listen to chapter

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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Myth: Alcohol Kills Brain Cells


A little bit of brain damage goes a long way. If you were actively killing brain cells when consuming alcohol, you'd notice some permanent side effects pretty quickly. Although alcohol does have a significant effect on your brain and body, brain damage isn't a given. You'll have to drink yourself into a coma to go that far.
The proof comes from a 1993 study by Grethe Jensen that matched brain samples from both (deceased) alcoholics and non-alcoholics and found no difference in the density of brain cells. (You can read more about this study here.) What alcohol actually does in inhibit the functionality of brain cells.

What alcohol can and does do to your brain is affect the way your neurons get their firing triggers from glutamate. It infiltrates the glutamate receptors in your synapses, hurting their ability to send off their normal "fire" messages. Alcohol has this impact all across your brain—the parts that control muscles, speech, coordination, judgment, and so on. Keep that in mind the next time you or someone else claims that they drive, golf, or otherwise perform some task better with alcohol's help.

In the end, you just need to worry more about your choices than the lifespan of your brain.







God Bless and grant you fortitude for temperance ~ SB

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