Americans are smack dab in the middle of an alcohol crisis. Twelve percent of deaths between the ages of 20 and 64 are caused by alcohol abuse.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, it’s the fourth-leading preventable cause of death. Approximately 97,000 men and 43,000 women lose their lives due to drinking too much every year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 25% of U.S. adults binge drink every weekend. The National Institutes of Health recommends men drink no more than two drinks a day. Women should just drink one. But did you know that alcohol doesn’t just affect your body, but can impact your brain?
Drinking too much can cause a form of permanent brain damage called Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome or Wet Brain.
“Wet Brain or WKS would not typically manifest until we saw someone drinking perhaps, at least, six or seven drinks a day on average,” said Dr. Joseph Schacht, a psychologist at University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Schacht said there are two parts to WKS. First is encephalopathy, which causes people to seem drunk even when they’re sober.
“Wernicke Syndrome is characterized in particular by motor difficulties. So, difficulty walking, falling over or losing one’s balance, as well as some mental confusion,” Schacht said.
The second stage is psychosis, causing hallucinations and delusions.
“They can also be confused for symptoms of other dementias,” Schacht said.
These symptoms are caused by a lack of vitamin B1.
“The symptoms of Wernicke Syndrome can be identified and treated. That can be very simple with simply thiamine or vitamin B1 supplementation. But if that is not treated, it will progress to psychosis, which is not treatable,” Schacht said.
The damage can be reversed if caught early. But the only way to prevent it is to minimize or quit drinking.
Up to 80% of people with severe alcohol use disorder become vitamin B1 or thiamine deficient. Men die from alcohol illnesses at a much higher rate than women, but the gap is closing as women drink more. Women don’t process alcohol as well as men because their bodies have less water to dilute it.