Doctors agree: “When you drink alcohol, neurons atrophy and you lose the ability to create new memories”

Alcohol is a chemical substance whose use, particularly when it becomes frequent and long-term, can lead to a wide range of health problems. The real danger is not having an alcoholic drink once in a while, but turning it into a daily habit without considering the consequences, which eventually catch up with you.

In this context, many doctors share a similar view: if alcohol can be avoided, so much the better. Jorge Ángel, Nicolás Badillo, and José Manuel Felices have become three of the most outspoken health professionals when it comes to warning about the risks that regular alcohol consumption can pose.

Jorge Ángel: “A neuron that dies does not come back”

“Alcohol causes short- and long-term memory loss, difficulty learning, aggression, impaired coordination and balance, and a reduction in both the number and size of neurons. A neuron that dies does not come back,” explains Jorge Ángel, who goes on to say that “alcohol is a depressant of the central nervous system.”

The nurse adds that all of these effects are even more pronounced “if you are under 18,” and delivers a message that many people often forget, or try not to think about: “It is one thing to have a beer every now and then, which is unlikely to cause major harm, and another to drink continuously. Alcohol is terrible for the brain and for the rest of the body,” he concludes.

For Nicolás Badillo, alcohol would be “illegal”

Turning to Nicolás Badillo’s perspective, the physician points out that alcohol affects more than just the brain. It also impacts the gut and hormones: “It is linked to certain types of cancer. If alcohol were discovered today, it would probably be illegal, or at least not so socially accepted,” he says.

“There is an area called the prefrontal cortex that is responsible for controlling our thoughts. When we drink alcohol, that control is switched off. That is why you may say things you do not want to say or do things you should not have done,” Badillo adds. He concludes by saying that alcohol can leave us “more anxious and more stressed.”

José Manuel Felices, in line with Jorge Ángel

Like Jorge Ángel, José Manuel Felices focuses on alcohol’s ability to damage the brain and its neurons: “When you drink alcohol, the receptors in the memory center are blocked, so the brain cannot hit the save button. That is why those memory blackouts so typical after a night of heavy drinking happen,” he begins.

“Every time you consume alcohol, neurons in that area atrophy. As they atrophy, gray matter is lost and replaced by fluid. (...) You lose your ability to form new memories, you say goodbye to the ones you had stored, it makes you forget who you are, and it also leaves you unable to preserve all the good moments you experience from now on. It makes you stop being yourself,” he concludes.

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