Posted by AMD on April 30, 2005, at 18:34:26
chemist,
I keep reading about the potential for dementia, permanent brain damage, liver damage, etc., all caused by "excessive" alcohol use, vitamin B deficiency, etc.
I take a daily vitamin B supplement (and have for a year), eat a healthy dose of carbs and meat daily, and drink, say, two or three times a week, usually 4-5 drinks over the course of a couple of hours. Too fast, in other words.
However, is this enough to put me at risk for the permanent mental syndromes associated with long-term alcohol consumption? I actually was sober for about a year and a half before I moved back to the city, and now I've been drinking again -- since I returned about 2 1/2 months ago. Again, only in the evenings, two or three times a week, but a few times to excess, and almost always more than what is "recommended."
I'm going to quit again as I feel kind of sh*tty from this (thank god I can quit alcohol cold turkey without problems), but I'm wondering if I'm already at risk. Am I? Or is this overblown? Is there a chance I have vitamin deficiencies brought on my the alcohol, even if I have a more-or-less healthy diet? (Well, I could eat more vegetables, but I disgress.)
Anything I should do to reverse any damage done? Or is this overblown? I don't want to wake up a vegetable one morning. But I'm not sure: is the alcohol bad, or is it the affect it has on other things -- like your diet, etc. -- that really causes the problem?
Then again, I can tell my memory has been slightly impaired, particularly the days after drinking, and now I'm worried this won't rectify itself.
Information would be very useful!
TIA,
amd
poster:AMD
thread:492031
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/subs/20050323/msgs/492031.html