Nov 10, 2023 12:00:00

It turns out that the brain can recover from alcohol damage in 7.3 months after quitting drinking

Alcohol is known to cause serious

damage to the brain, with even a moderate amount of alcohol (about half a can of beer ) causing brain atrophy. A study that scanned the brains of people who had fallen into excessive drinking revealed that it is possible to significantly recover the brain by abstaining from alcohol for more than half a year.

Regional cortical thickness recovery with extended abstinence after treatment in those with alcohol use disorder - ScienceDirect
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S074183292300263X

7.3 Months Without Alcohol Lets Brains Repair Damage From Heavy Drinking, Study Finds : ScienceAlert
https://www.sciencealert.com/7-3-months-without-alcohol-lets-brains-repair-damage-from-heavy-drinking-study-finds

Studies have shown that people with alcohol use disorder (AUD) have thinning of the cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain that is important for things like decision-making and self-control. These changes in brain structure and function make it difficult for people with AUD to stop drinking, even if they want to.

On the other hand, research has shown that the brain may recover over time if you stop drinking alcohol, but this has only been confirmed for at most one month after quitting alcohol, so long-term effects are unlikely. I didn't understand.

Now, a research team led by Timothy C. Durazzo, a psychiatrist and behavioral scientist at Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States, used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to scan the brains of a total of 88 patients with AUD to help them stop drinking. We investigated the thickness of the cortex at 1 week, 1 month, and 7.3 months. For comparison, 45 non-AUD patients were also tested.

The results showed that AUD patients who did not consume alcohol for 7.3 months showed significant thickness recovery in 25 out of 34 areas measured, and 24 of these areas were significantly thicker than those who did not abuse alcohol. I found that it was back to the same thickness. According to the research team, in all 34 areas, the rate of change from 1 month to 7.3 months after quitting alcohol exceeded the rate of change from 1 week to 1 month after quitting drinking.

No significant relationships were found between changes in cortical thickness and

substance use disorders , including drugs other than alcohol, mental illness, or past smoking history.

On the other hand, AUD patients with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or who smoked had a slower rate of recovery in parts of their brains. This may indicate that smoking cessation has an effect on restoring cortical thickness.

The researchers say factors such as genes, amount of physical activity and the health of other organs may influence the results of the study. Therefore, the research team points out that larger longitudinal studies are needed to examine the effects of the recovery of cortical thickness brought about by sustained abstinence on neurocognitive and social psychological functions in patients with AUD. Did.

The research team concluded, ``These results support the adaptive and beneficial effects of sustained abstinence on structural brain recovery in patients with AUD.''