• Neuroscience & Pharmacology Discussion Welcome Guest
    Posting Rules Bluelight Rules
    Recent Journal Articles Chemistry Mega-Thread
    FREE Chemistry Databases! Self-Education Guide

  • N&PD Moderators: Skorpio

How to protect brain from alcohol damage?

Yerg said:
You are aware that GHB is a neurotoxin, right? Oh, I see Murph beat me to it.
Click to expand...

Really? I thought the only endogenously occurring chemical in the human body that was neurotoxic was cortisol.
 
Very unrelated but didn't want to make a new post. Its about the brain so a tad. For any one interested this is a high-resolution turbo-spin-echo scan of my brain using our brand new fMRI

33645_441860091637_607706637_5738767_5966251_n.jpg
 
this is from wikipedia


"Alcohol related brain damage is due to not also the direct toxic effects of alcohol; alcohol withdrawal, nutritional deficiency, electrolyte disturbances, and liver damage are also believed to contribute to alcohol related brain damage."

I have also read that it causes disruption of some "metabolic pathways"


so.....we find out what is causing the toxicity and reverse it right guys?
 
I thought the only endogenously occurring chemical in the human body that was neurotoxic was cortisol.
Click to expand...

Counter-example: toxic metabolites of dopamine formed by mao-b. neurotoxicity, like all toxicity, is a matter of dose.
 
neurotoxicity, like all toxicity, is a matter of dose.
Click to expand...
Interestingly, if you click through that link I posted above, GHB neurotoxicity is apparently greater at lower doses.
 
thouart_that said:
Not seriously, no. ;)
Click to expand...

Doesn't alcohol (most in sherry and vermouth) contain at least a trace of GHB? Xyrem (pharm GHB) is also used for treating alcoholism, but in tiny doses like .15mg which is close to the amount you'd find in a bottle of wine. It's certainly not even remotely similar to alcohol alone, but people that like alc might like GHB as a substitute.
 
mindtools said:
Piracetam or other -racetams. Plus, be careful with drinking, it leads to serious addiction.
Click to expand...

Bad idea.

-racetams will get you drunk faster and they increase the amount of blood that goes to the brain. NEVER drink on a racetam.

Seriously, there is no way to prevent or reverse the damage from alcohol short of staying the hell away from it.
 
^I was thinking about taking it on wake up, noon and, let's say 3pm. When I drink, I usualy do it late evening/night.
But thank you for this info. I didn't know about it.
I said -racetams, as they are told to repair semi-demaged brain cells connections.
 
You might want to consider getting neurological and cognitive function testing done. A friend of mine has severe alcohol-related brain damage and the progression from moderate symptoms to severe ones occurred quite rapidly.

At 50, he's literally incapable of caring for himself and a stranger would probably assume that he had Alzheimer's or a severe mental illness. He has severe balance and vision problems too. Imaging shows significant physical damage to his brain.

Although the symptoms were milder a few years ago, the damage was severe even then - his brain just stopped being able to compensate for the deficits. Your symptoms may be relatively mild at the moment, but it's important to get an objective assessment of any impairment. Continuing to abuse alcohol will exacerbate any existing impairment of function so it's important that you make that choice with eyes wide open - ie, that you know what the actual level of existing damage is.

I've done my fair share of abusing alcohol myself as have many of my friends. What I'm noticing at 50 is a stark contrast in the ability to function at even a minimal level between those of us who slowed down a lot as middle age hit and those who didn't - the majority of those who didn't are now incapable of independent living and will be in nursing homes by age 55 if they live that long. Middle age really seems to be the time when chronic alcohol abuse starts catching up with people in a major way.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top