Alcoholism: a lasting abstinence can restore cognitive abilities

A long alcohol abstinence can repair damage caused by neurocognitive excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages, according to results of a study published in the issue of "Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research."

Alcoholism causes including disturbances of attention, auditory memory, immediate memory, long term memory, psychomotor function, reaction time, spatial resolution, speech and capacity of abstraction.

The authors of studies have sought to determine the extent abstinence possible to restore these functions. For this, they conducted a neuropsychological evaluation tests involving 96 individuals, divided into two groups: one consisting of 48 former alcoholics who have stopped any alcohol on average 6.7 years (6 months to 13 years), the other 48 people matched for age and sex, consuming little or no alcoholic beverages.

"We found that cognitive and mental abilities of middle-aged alcoholics abstinent for six months to three years are indistinguishable from those of the same sex and similar age who do not have a drinking problem" reports George Fein, president of Neurobehavorial Research, Inc. "With the possible exception of spatial resolution capabilities," he tempers.

"In other words, these people may be able to have a normal life, whether at home, at work and in social terms, these people are able to function normally on a cognitive level," explains the researcher for whom this discovery represents a significant hope for those addicted to alcohol and is a strong incentive for abstinence.

However, the study has some limitations. "We can not say with certainty that these individuals had deficits when they stopped drinking. We do not have data on it. Moreover, these people are middle aged. We can not that can be found all cognitive functions by stopping drinking to 50-60 years. "

According to the researchers, an older brain is more vulnerable to damage caused by alcohol. They also conduct investigations on the recovery of cognitive function in old age alcohol from 65 to 85, who have stopped drinking before the age of 50 years, between 50 and 60 years after the sixties. The data will determine the level of alcohol that causes the most damage to an older brain, and the importance of the recovery of damaged after sustained abstinence functions.