Alcoholic Cerebellopatia - Alcoholic Brain Atrophy

TL;DR

Alcoholic brain atrophy is a chronic disease caused by the toxic effect of alcohol on the nervous system, leading to damage to gray matter, cerebellum, brain cortex, and limbic system. Symptoms include balance disorders, speech and movement difficulties, cognitive function impairment, personality changes, impulsivity, as well as memory and orientation problems. The disease is diagnosed using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, which allow determining the degree and location of changes in the brain. Causes include neurotoxic effects of ethanol, vitamin deficiencies, metabolic and hormonal disorders, and hypertension - particularly dangerous with early alcohol initiation. Treatment includes complete abstinence, vitamin and nutrient supplementation, and therapy at an addiction treatment center. Early changes may be reversible, and the brain can partially compensate for damage through reorganization and takeover of functions by less damaged areas.

What is Alcoholic Brain Atrophy?

Alcoholic brain atrophy, i.e., alcoholic cerebellopatia, is a complex of chronic symptoms resulting from brain damage. The disease is progressive in nature and can develop even after a period of abstinence. This disease is associated with ethanol's attack on the nervous system, including:

• gray matter - an element of the nervous system responsible primarily for planning, memory, emotions, impulse control, intellectual functions and thought processes, and much more

• brain cortex, especially the frontal lobe, whose damage manifests itself in increased impulsivity

• cerebellum

• limbic system.

Alcohol also reduces the volume of white matter containing neuronal processes, damages mammillary bodies and hypothalamic nuclei, disrupts amygdala functions and inhibits its connections with other brain structures, and leads to hippocampal atrophy. Alcoholic brain atrophy is a major problem that brings serious consequences. Degenerative changes cause cognitive impairments and personality changes. Patients show a tendency toward aggression and disregard the consequences of their behavior, also have problems with proper assessment of situations, which often leads to infantile behavior not adapted to social norms. Read also: Alcoholic Ascites - Causes and Symptoms of Ascites in Alcoholics

Causes of Brain Cortex Atrophy in Alcoholics

Until recently, it was believed that nerve cells are formed only during childhood, and no major changes occur in the brains of adults. Conducted studies allowed changing the course of modern neurology. Currently, there is talk of neuroplasticity, which assumes numerous structural changes in the brain throughout a person's life. These changes can be both positive and negative and depend on many factors. One of them is alcohol, which causes unequivocally negative changes in the human nervous system, including brain cortex atrophy in alcoholics. Degeneration of this type is caused by the toxic effect of ethanol and its metabolites on nerve tissue, as well as metabolic and hormonal disorders, vitamin deficiencies, and arterial hypertension caused by this substance. Brain changes are greater the earlier the age of alcohol initiation - most susceptible to the harmful effects of ethanol are nerve cells of adolescents and young adults, who have the greatest risk of permanent damage.

Alcoholic Brain Atrophy - Symptoms

In alcoholic brain atrophy, there is atrophy of the cerebellar vermis, i.e., the middle part of the brain area located in the posterior lower part of the skull, responsible for maintaining balance. This results in the characteristic for people abusing alcohol uncertain, unsteady gait with widely spaced feet, called wide-based gait. Alcoholic brain atrophy also causes other problems, primarily:

• balance disorders

• difficulty maintaining upright position

• trunk dyssynergia

• limb ataxia

• clumsiness and excessive sweep of movements

• hand tremor, persisting even during long-term abstinence, as well as other body parts

• impairment of performing rapid, coordinated movements

• speech problems - occurrence of so-called scanning speech, modulation resembling shouts

• nystagmus

• dysarthria.

Symptoms of cortical atrophy depend on the extent as well as the degree of changes. In patients, one can observe:

• impairment of cognitive functions

• problems assimilating new information

• memory disorders

• impairment of thought processes

• impairment of language skills

• loss of counting abilities

• emotional instability

• loss of orientation

• consciousness disorders.

In people affected by alcohol-induced cortico-subcortical atrophy, infantile, impulsive, and aggressive behaviors incomprehensible to others also appear.

How is Alcoholic Brain Atrophy Diagnosed?

Alcoholic brain atrophy is diagnosed using head imaging studies such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging. They allow obtaining a thin-layer volumetric image that shows anatomical brain structures with exceptional precision. The obtained images are then analyzed organoleptically or using specialized computer software. The use of modern technologies enables detailed measurements and accurate assessment of the volume and size of individual brain parts. It also allows indicating the exact location and determining the degree of advancement of detected abnormalities, which is why it is recommended especially in cases of cortical atrophy. During diagnostic examination, changes in specific brain cortex lobes, their symmetry and degree of severity in individual structures, as well as their typicality for the examined person's age are taken into account.

Brain Cortex Atrophy in Alcoholics - Prognosis and Treatment

Alcohol-induced damage to the nervous system is most often caused by disorders in neuronal metabolism, leading to intensified inflammation of nerve tissue and oxidative stress. Repeatedly, degenerative processes resulting in brain cortex atrophy in alcoholics are also related to nutritional deficiencies, which is why therapy includes supplementation that promotes regenerative processes of the central nervous system:

• B vitamins, primarily vitamins B1 and B2 and folic acid

• vitamin C

• magnesium

• calcium

• coenzyme Q10.

In the initial phase of alcoholic cerebellopatia, a significant part of changes in the brain is reversible. However, it is necessary to completely stop consuming alcoholic beverages and comprehensively nourish the body. For this purpose, the drinking person should undergo addiction treatment at a professional addiction therapy center, where they can break with the addiction and improve their overall health. In people diagnosed with advanced alcoholic brain atrophy, improvement in mental abilities may occur not necessarily as a result of restoring the functions of damaged nerve cells, but as a result of the compensation phenomenon. It leads to brain reorganization and causes less damaged regions to take over the functions of destroyed areas.

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