Video Transcription
Alcohol and the Brain
It may be legal, but it is still a drug. Be safe, be sensible, and know your limit. Alcohol is a drug, so think before you drink. Your body belongs to you. The purpose of this presentation is to help you understand the impact that alcohol has on your brain and the damage it can do. Our goal is to provide you with information that will enable you to make informed choices in relation to safe alcohol consumption.
Did you know healthy people metabolize alcohol at a fairly consistent rate? As a rule of thumb, a person will eliminate one standard drink, or 10 mL of alcohol, per hour. Remember, it's not how many drinks you have but how much alcohol you consume. Several factors influence this rate, including gender, age, height, weight, general health, the presence of food in the stomach, the concentration of alcohol in the drink, and prescription or illicit drugs taken by the person.
It's the blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) that is key to why we are affected by alcohol. Basically, your blood-alcohol concentration is the relationship between the total amount of alcohol in your system divided by total body water, because alcohol is dissolved and diluted in water. That's also why drinking lots of water with any alcohol consumption is a really good thing.
The BAC and the effects of alcohol go up when the body is taking in alcohol faster than it can metabolize it. For example, if you binge drink and consume a 750 mL bottle of rum or 3 bottles of wine—that’s around 26 standard drinks—between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m., your body will need until sometime around 6 p.m. the next day to process and get rid of the alcohol. That’s why driving or operating equipment the next day is not only illegal but just crazy, particularly when you consider what this is doing to your brain.
Let me explain. Alcohol enters the body and ends up in the stomach, at which point about 20% is absorbed immediately and the other 80% is absorbed in the small intestine. The heart then pumps the absorbed alcohol to every part of the body, including the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord. It gets to the brain really fast. That’s why even after just one drink, you can feel light-headed or relaxed.
Alcohol acts primarily on the nerve cells within the brain and interferes with communication between nerve cells and all other cells, slowing everything down. That’s why when we drink, even a little, we experience the effects of alcohol on our emotions, judgment, balance, memory, speech, and anger levels, just to name a few.
Did you know that your brain is still developing until you are around 20 to 25? We need to be really careful because alcohol can do some irreversible damage to various parts of our brains.
For example:
Drinking affects the cerebral cortex, which controls our senses and inhibitory centers. This is why when you drink, you become more talkative, more self-confident, and less socially inhibited. It also controls our thought processes, so alcohol affects our ability to make good judgments or think clearly.
The brain's frontal lobes are important for planning, forming ideas, making decisions, and using self-control. When alcohol affects the frontal lobes of the brain, you may find it hard to control emotions and urges. You may act without thinking and even sometimes become violent or act completely out of character. Does this sound familiar?
The cerebellum is important for coordination, thinking, and being aware. Again, you may have trouble with these skills when alcohol affects the cerebellum. That’s why people affected by alcohol sometimes can’t walk properly, lose their balance, or fall.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain where memories are made. When alcohol reaches the hippocampus, you may have trouble remembering something you just heard—or, even worse, have a blackout and not be able to remember what you did last night. If alcohol damages the hippocampus, you may find it hard to learn or remember things in the future.
The hypothalamus is a small part of the brain that does an amazing number of the body’s housekeeping chores. After a person drinks alcohol, blood pressure, hunger, thirst, and the urge to urinate increase, while body temperature and heart rate decrease.
Finally, the medulla controls the body’s automatic actions, such as your heartbeat. It also keeps the body at the right temperature. Because alcohol chills the body, drinking a lot of alcohol outdoors in cold weather can cause a person’s body temperature to fall below normal. This dangerous condition is called hypothermia.
Your body belongs to you. Get the facts. Alcohol is unsafe for the developing brain. Alcohol can damage your brain forever. The long-term functioning and health of your brain depend on the choices you make today.
Your responsible attitude toward alcohol can have a positive influence on your friends and family. Your body belongs to you—take care of it. It’s the only one you have.
Thanks to the following:
DrinkWise Australia for their generosity in granting funding for a major portion of this production.
Australian Lions Drug Awareness Foundation for their important support throughout the production of this presentation.
3D Me – A Look Inside for their in-kind contribution to portions of the script research, development, creative processes, and production of this presentation.
For more information, please visit www.tuneinnotout.com
