Comment by alcoholcomment | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alcoholcomment | Hacker News Reader

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My father drank way too much throughout his adult life and now he has what is effectively dementia, please reduce your consumption of alcohol, the physical impact of alcohol abuse does not compare to the impact that it will have on your brain. My father can't remember what happened a few minutes ago and he will die alone, because of alcoholism. Please don't underestimate the impact that alcohol will have on your mental health and your relationships.

The real danger with alcohol is that unlike hard drugs (heroin, cocaine) the destruction takes years and it's very possible to trick yourself into thinking your consumption is fine by leading a normal life alongside the alcoholism... until it's too late, and then there's no turning back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korsakoff's_syndrome

Hey thanks for this man. Yes Korsakoff's is something I've worried about, and the symptoms are terrifying. However, the cause of Korsakoff's syndrome is a vitamin deficiency, and it's easily avoided by an informed alcoholic who maintains a decent diet.

In this case I feel like a hopeless addict trying to rationalize his addiction in any way possible, but people who want to drink REALLY want to drink, and they will find any rationalization available. There needs to be unassailable reasons telling them that they shouldn't, in order for them to be effective.

Korsakoff's syndrome isn't the only kind of brain damage caused by drinking. Other failure modes include hepatic encephalopathy caused by cirrhosis and alcohol-related dementia, which includes but isn't limited to the consequences of B1 deficiency.

There's also something called kindling that makes each withdrawal episode worse than the last, and is believed to make frequent binge drinking especially dangerous. Besides making withdrawal worse, it's associated with cognitive deficits and mental health problems.

Then, there's the increased risk of traumatic brain injury that comes from being drunk, especially if you're crazy enough to drive drunk; or the increased risk of deciding to play with a flamethrower after a few shots of Everclear.

Definitely get your vitamins if you're feeding an alcohol addiction, but know it's harm reduction, not harm elimination. As far as I can tell, there is no known way to make heavy drinking safe.

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