Wipe the convolutions with alcohol
Small doses of alcohol proved to be good for the brain
Ksenia Malysheva, Naked Science
"Prolonged intake of ethanol into the body leads to serious damage to the central nervous system, however, our study provides evidence for the first time that small doses of alcohol can be useful for the brain, they can help it to remove processed products," explains Maiken Nedergaard, head of the study. The scientists' article was published in the journal Scientific Reports (Lundgaard et al., Beneficial effects of low alcohol exposure, but adverse effects of high alcohol intake on glymphatic function).
This study can be put on a par with others proving that moderate alcohol consumption is theoretically able to have a beneficial effect on certain tissues, organs and organ systems: it reduces the risk of developing heart and vascular diseases and certain types of cancer. However, all the data accumulated on this topic does not negate the fact that alcohol in large quantities has a destructive effect on the body.
Nedergaard and his colleagues studied the effect of alcohol on the work of the glymphatic system, whose main function is to remove the waste products of the cells of the central nervous system. Nedergaard's group received the first results back in 2012: then scientists showed how cerebrospinal fluid is pumped into the brain and washes out waste, including beta-amyloid peptides and tau proteins, the deposition of which inside neurons is associated with Alzheimer's disease and a number of other neurodegenerative diseases.
Subsequent studies have shown that the glymphatic system is especially active during sleep, it often suffers as a result of injuries and strokes, but recovers with the help of physical exercises.
In the new work, scientists tested the effects of chronic and irregular alcohol consumption on the brains of mice. In mice that consumed alcohol in large quantities for a long time, quite a lot of biomarkers of inflammation were found in the cells. There were especially many markers in astrocytes – neuroglial cells that play a key role in regulating the glymphatic system.
Mice who were given small doses of alcohol (approximately equivalent to 2.5 "drinks", i.e. 75 g of vodka for a person per day), on the contrary, had fewer markers of inflammation, and their glymphatic system pumped cerebrospinal fluid more efficiently and removed waste secreted by other brain cells than the glymphatic system of mice from the control group.
Figure from an article in Scientific Reports – VM
This did not affect the results of tests for cognitive abilities and the development of motor skills; mice who received small doses of alcohol coped with the tests in the same way as mice from the control group who did not drink alcohol at all.
The data obtained by Nedergaard's group confirm statistical data on the effect of various doses of alcohol on health and mortality in human populations.
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