Saturday, March 17th, 2018 is St. Patrick’s Day. In different places in North America and Europe, this day means different things and different ways to commemorate it.
Some people commemorate the day by attending religious services honoring St. Patrick, some celebrate by attending St. Patrick’s Day parades, and some people wear green clothes and eat green food.
Other people drink. A lot. Some people use St. Patrick’s Day as an excuse to drink a lot of alcohol, use drugs, or participate in other potentially dangerous behaviors. Given that the holiday this year falls on a Saturday, some people might use this as an excuse to party even harder and imbibe even more substances.
Some people might engage in drinking behavior known as binge drinking, or drinking a great deal of alcohol in a short amount of time. For women, this amounts to four drinks or more in a short span of time. For men, it’s five drinks or more in a similar span of time.
The Signs and Symptoms of Binge Drinking
Drinking a great deal of alcohol in this time can produce the usual dangers of alcohol abuse, some of which include:
- Slurred speech
- Coordination problems
- Confusion
- Nausea
- Impaired judgment
- Blackouts (periods of memory loss)
There are also long-term effects of drinking too much alcohol:
- Liver problems and diseases, such as cirrhosis and cancer
- Mouth and throat problems, including cancer
- Skin conditions, such as dryness and possible rosacea
- Brain damage
A number of consequences, then, could occur from misusing alcohol. Brain damage is a particularly serious consequence. Binge drinking and misusing alcohol could create brain damage directly, or they could create poor health or other medical conditions that contribute to brain damage, such as problems with the liver.
WKS, Alcohol, and Brain Damage
They might even develop a condition known as Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), “WKS is a disease that consists of two separate syndromes, a short–lived and severe condition called Wernicke’s encephalopathy and a long–lasting and debilitating condition known as Korsakoff’s psychosis.”
While Wernicke’s encephalopathy is more short-lived, it can still be severe. People with this condition might be so confused that they might not be able to walk or figure out how to leave a room, according to the NIAAA. People with Wernicke’s encephalopathy may have some of these symptoms:
- Coordination problems
- Problems with nerves near the eyes
- Confusion
Many people with Wernicke’s encephalopathy develop Korsakoff’s psychosis.
Korsakoff’s psychosis is brutal and has long-lasting effects. The NIAAA describes Korsakoff’s psychosis as “a chronic and debilitating syndrome characterized by persistent learning and memory problems.”
People with Korsakoff’s psychosis might have trouble remembering the past. Notably, they also have trouble remembering new information, a condition known as anterograde amnesia. A person with anterograde amnesia might have a good short-term memory and remember newly acquired skills but be unable to remember a conversation that occurred only an hour earlier.
Can such problems related to alcohol and brain damage be treated? It depends. Doctors have found that giving thiamine to people with WKS has helped improve their brain functions, especially if they’re in the early stages of the disease. Researchers have found that alcoholic people often have deficiencies in thiamine. Thiamine is a vitamin needed for healthy tissue functioning, including healthy tissues needed for brain functioning.
What’s the best way to attack Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome (WKS)? Preventing it in the first place. The physical effects of alcohol misuse are often easy to spot, as the lists in this article indicate. Binge drinking is also often apparent to others, as observers can spot people who drink a great deal of alcohol in a short amount of time.
We all know people who take great pains to hide their alcohol use, however. Their alcohol abuse might be more evident in some of their behaviors, which could include:
- Secretiveness
- Neglect of school, work, or family duties
- New friendships or the abandonment of old friendships
- Mood swings and other changes from normal behavior
Spotting alcoholism could be an example of noticing what people do, not what they say. People often deny their alcohol abuse and drug addiction, even to themselves. Even if the physical and behavioral effects of their substance use disorder are apparent, people who abuse alcohol and drugs might deny their problems because they’re afraid of what will happen next.
But, as with other medical and mental health conditions, early detection and treatment is key. If people have been abusing alcohol and drugs for a long time, there’s a good chance they’ve abused a lot of alcohol and drugs over an extended period of time. Their brain damage and other health conditions might be more advanced and thus more difficult to treat.
While admitting alcohol and drug abuse isn’t easy (and treatment isn’t easy), admitting and treating problems might promote better short-term health and more favorable long-term consequences.
