Alcoholic Brains Do Not Function Properly
The dangers of alcoholism are no secret. When you consistently consume excessive amounts of alcohol, the damage to your body and brain is obvious and backed by research. Since drinking is so common in many cultures and the effects vary so widely from person to person, it’s not always easy to figure out where the line is between social drinking and problem drinking. But the bottom line is how alcohol affects you. Alcohol causes damaging long term effects to the cardiovascular system, digestive system, and over-consumption of alcohol is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. But perhaps most importantly, consuming large amounts of alcohol over a period of time can impair normal brain development in humans.
The brains of alcoholics can perform the same tasks as a brain of a non-alcoholic, but the brain of an alcoholic must work significantly harder to do so. Chronic drinking is associated with abnormalities in the structure, metabolism and function of the brain. One of the consequences of these deficits is impairment of motor functioning. The frontal lobe and cerebellum activities are less integrated in alcoholic individuals than they are in non-alcoholic individuals. Author Baxter Rogers, Ph.D., research assistant professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences thinks that this lack of integration shows “that alcoholics need to compensate for their brain injury. They may need to expend more effort, or at least a different brain response, to produce a normal outcome on simple tasks because they are unable to utilize the brain regions needed in an integrated fashion.”
Alcohol and alcoholism can ruin relationships between friends and family, it can cause significant financial and bodily damage, and arguably worst of all it can ruin proper brain growth, development, and health. If you or a loved one has a problem with alcohol, or appears to show signs of alcoholism, risks should be researched and understood. Because the risks are so abundant and inevitable, they should be viewed as a wake-up call for those with alcohol problems, and a warning sign for those headed in that direction. Help is out there, but true rehabilitation comes from the will and dedication of the addict. There are many different paths that lead to alcoholism, and the professional treatment team at Seabrook House understands that there are also many paths that lead from alcoholism to recovery. Seabrook House is an internationally recognized drug rehabilitation and alcoholism treatment center located in Bridgeton, New Jersey (NJ). They have a treatment team full of experts that understand how to cater to an individual patient and their unique recovery. Contact Seabrook House today to get started on a life free from alcohol and the consequential self inflicted damage to your body and brain that it causes.
