Does Alcohol Kill Brain Cells?

It can, but not right away. For most people, enjoying the occasional drink in moderation does not kill off any brain cells. Heavy or long-term drinking, however, is another matter. 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there is no safe amount of alcohol that a person can consume without affecting their health. And the more a person drinks, and the more often, the more neurotoxic alcohol can become while also damaging many other vital bodily organs.

But how exactly does alcohol kill brain cells or damage them, and how can you stop the damage caused by chronic or excessive alcohol consumption?

Alcohol’s Acute Effects On The Brain

When a person drinks an alcoholic beverage, ethanol is quickly absorbed by the digestive tract into the bloodstream and is passed along to the brain. Once this happens, normal neurotransmitter activity in the brain and the rest of the central nervous system (CNS) becomes disrupted. 

Depending on how much a person drinks and how quickly, alcohol may initially act as a stimulant, increasing energy and aggression and reducing personal inhibition. However, alcohol’s overall effect is that of a strong CNS depressant, slowing CNS activity and producing symptoms of alcohol intoxication.

Symptoms of alcohol intoxication include:

• relaxation or sleepiness
• skin flushing
• problems with movement, coordination, and reaction time
• problems with attention, memory, and judgment
• mood and emotional changes
• slurred speech
• uncontrolled eye movements
• mental confusion

If someone continues to drink in excess and elevates their blood alcohol content (BAC) to .3% or greater, their brain function may become even more disrupted, leading to severe confusion, dizziness, hallucinations, and memory loss/amnesia (blackouts). They may even experience seizures, lose consciousness, enter a coma, or experience life-threatening hypothermia, respiratory failure, or uncontrolled vomiting as their bodily functions and reflexes shut down. 

Alcohol’s Chronic Effects On The Brain

Routinely binge drinking or drinking chronically in other ways puts stress on the tissue of the brain and can degrade neurons (brain cells) or kill them outright, leading to long-term brain shrinkage.

As people who heavily use alcohol age, they also become vulnerable to conditions including:

• alcohol-related brain impairment / injury (ARBI), also known as alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD), a condition in which the overall structure and function of a person’s brain (i.e., their thinking, decision-making, and memory) has been compromised due to the direct, toxic, and long-term effects of alcohol and/or repeated experiences with alcohol withdrawal
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a set of two closely linked and progressive neurological disorders (Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome) that occur due to chronically low thiamine (vitamin B1) levels, a common side effect of chronic alcohol abuse and alcohol-related liver disease
• anxiety disorders and clinical depression, serious mental health disorders that influence how a person feels, thinks, and behaves and can increase the risk of other serious problems including suicidal thoughts and behavior

Fortunately, even if alcohol-related brain damage isn’t curable per se, the cognitive effects of long-term alcohol abuse can often be halted or partially reversed if a person ceases all drinking and receives medical care to manage their withdrawal symptoms, ensure proper nutrition, support their continued sobriety, and provide other forms of practical assistance and support. 

Other Reasons To Stop Drinking

What is the deadliest drug of abuse in the United States today? You might answer fentanyl, calling out the hyper-potent synthetic opioid that has largely replaced heroin. Or perhaps the answer is methamphetamine, the ubiquitous and profoundly addictive stimulant drug. 

However, as deadly and notorious as fentanyl, crystal meth, and many other illicit drugs collectively are, alcohol’s toxic effects on the body and brain are responsible for far more premature deaths and years of life lost. 

In fact, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), excessive alcohol use:

• was responsible for over 178,000 deaths in the United States during 2021 (or approximately 488 deaths per day)
• shortened the lives of those who died by an average of 24 years
• promotes the development of chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease, liver disease, and dementia (representing two-thirds of all alcohol-related deaths)
• causes additional deaths through motor vehicle crashes, poisonings involving alcohol and other substances in addition to alcohol, suicides, and other incidents (representing one-third of all alcohol-related deaths)

Alcohol has also been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, placing it in the company of substances like asbestos, nuclear radiation, and tobacco. And alcohol abuse is firmly linked to numerous other chronic health conditions, including high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease, pancreatitis, liver disease (cirrhosis), anxiety, depression, sexual and reproductive problems, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), substance use disorders, and more.

People who have become dependent on alcohol may also experience withdrawal symptoms when they go long periods without a drink. These symptoms are known to include cravings, illness, sleep problems, sweating, hallucinations and psychosis, mood swings and anxiety, and life-threatening seizures. Only by working through withdrawal and avoiding alcohol use in the future can people dependent on alcohol eliminate these risks. 

How Much Alcohol Is Safe?

Many organizations join WHO in stating that no amount of alcohol is safe, healthy, or beneficial. Others allow that, for adults who choose to drink alcohol, drinking in moderation is not generally harmful. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services defines drinking in moderation as up to a single standard drink each day for women and two drinks for men. 

However, recent studies, including one published in the journal Nature Communications of over 36,000 points of data from UK Biobank, have shown that even light to moderate alcohol use is associated with measurable decreases in brain matter over time. 

This damage accelerates as a person moves from “low-risk” drinking (i.e., up to three drinks in a single day and no more than seven in the space of a week for women, and up to four drinks in a day and up to 14 in a week for men) to even more harmful patterns of alcohol consumption, including binge drinking (i.e., consuming four drinks for women and five drinks for men in the space of two hours) and heavy alcohol use (i.e., regularly consuming more than four drinks in one day or eight in a week for women, or five drinks in one day or 15 during a week for men).

When these forms of alcohol abuse occur and continue, the damage is progressive, building up over time. And the harm can be intensified by also using other substances like cocaine, opioids, cigarettes, cannabis, and others, and/or by living with a high level of daily stress or not establishing a lifestyle with a healthy regular diet, daily exercise, and a restful sleep schedule. 

Also note that any and all alcohol consumption should be avoided by people who are underage, who are pregnant, or who have a history of prior alcohol dependence or addiction. 

Treating Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) 

Giving up alcohol and committing to a healthy lifestyle is the best and only way to stop and, hopefully, reverse the damage inflicted by chronic alcohol abuse. But alcohol is notoriously addictive, especially for people with certain genetic factors and those who struggle with poor mental health. Alcohol withdrawal can also be very difficult and even dangerous, including life-threatening in rare cases, without the proper support and guidance. 

If you have a problem with excessive alcohol consumption and drink more than you plan to, are unable to stop drinking if you want to, or drink even when alcohol causes problems in your life, we strongly urge you to consider participating in a professional addiction treatment program that can meet your unique personal needs. 

Here at Ohio Recovery Center, we consider the whole person in our substance abuse treatment programs, providing people from all across Ohio and the U.S. with comprehensive alcohol recovery services that may include:

• medical detoxification and alcohol withdrawal symptom management 
• dual diagnosis treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders
• medication-assisted treatment (MAT) options, including treatment with acamprosate, naltrexone, and disulfiram
• behavioral therapy and counseling
• peer support group facilitation
• alternative treatment programming
• aftercare coordination

Reach Out To Ohio Recovery Center Today

Alcohol addiction isn’t a harmless habit but an insidious disorder. The longer you wait to deal with the root of this serious health issue, the worse the damage tends to be and the harder recovery may be. 

If you are ready to explore alcohol treatment options for yourself or a loved one, please consider reaching out to Ohio Recovery Center today. We are here to serve you!