[crobert]

Hi all,

I’ve had quite a concussion-laden year, and four out of five have occurred on nights that also involved copious amounts of drinking. Although correlation most certainly does not prove causation, I’m here today to convince you that it’s nevertheless ludicrous to drink after sustaining even just one concussion.

First, and foremost—science. As a chemistry major, I thought I’d do a bit of reading on the subject, thought I’d dig a bit into the ways in which alcohol chemically and physiologically affects the brain.

Here’s what I found: in a study published by Montoliu, Sancho-Tello, Burgal, Vallés, Renau-Piquaras, and Guerri, (Ethanol Increases Cytochrome P4502E1 and Induces Oxidative Stress in Astrocytes), astrocytes obtained from fetal rats were isolated and grown in culture. Some were subjected to varying concentrations of ethanol (the kind of alcohol found in all alcoholic beverages), and oxidative stress was measured after either one or two weeks. It was discovered that glutathione, an antioxidant implicated in the “neutralization” of harmful free radicals throughout the brain, dropped to alarmingly low concentrations in the ethanol conditions, and the degree of the decrease was dependent on the substance’s concentration. Summary: alcohol causes oxidative stress.

The effects seemed eerily familiar, so I re-read a paper I had previously skimmed. I’ll recap an important point articulated in this study, which was conducted by Ansari, Roberts, and Scheff (Oxidative Stress and Modification of Synaptic Proteins in Hippocampus after Traumatic Brain Injury). Concussions were methodically administered to rats. The animals were sacrificed at different intervals following contusion, and levels of cerebral oxidative stress were quantified by examining the ratio of glutathione (the same antioxidant measured in the previously cited study) to oxidized glutathione (the former molecule in radicalized form). What this report demonstrated was the occurrence of a profound dip in said ratio, one that prevailed until even the 96-hour-post-trauma mark—the data point corresponding to the sacrificing of the last experimental group. In other words, oxidative stress would have remained prevalent for days, perhaps even weeks following the administration of mTBI. Summary: oxidative stress is associated with concussions. An important clarification is in order, however: the direction of causality is unknown.

So what do these two experiments mean when taken together? In essence, exposing brain cells to alcohol brings about a toxic cerebral environment disturbingly similar to that brought about by concussion. And even if the toxins involved are the byproducts of concussion and are not associated with its initiation (a best-case scenario), the brain may have already been primed as a result of an initial concussion to respond to said toxins as if they had been brought about by some sort of (sub)concussive blow.

In effect, the amount of trauma to the head required to bring about a full-on concussion could be alarmingly reduced as a result of ethanol’s physiological effects.

It is, after all, the secondary damage that the brain wreaks upon itself that presents the most concern for those with multiple concussion syndrome—why would we want to subject the brain to those very same conditions that are associated with said secondary damage?

Second, clumsiness. Alcohol makes it more likely for you to lose your balance. A loss of balance can mean a whack on the head. A whack on the head… well, this is just too obvious.

What’s more interesting to me is that a history of concussions may alter the manner in which your body metabolizes alcohol. I’m too lazy at the moment to go off and dig up the paper from which I picked up this bit of information, but it’s an effect not uncommonly seen. I’m really curious as to the exact mechanism, but tolerance has been known to drop sharply after trauma to the head. Basically, a night out consisting of only a few beers could leave you blackout and freshly concussed. Who’da thunk.

I apologize if the above text is too technical; this stuff is just too fascinating and relevant for me not to go into detail. Additionally, I vastly prefer scientific evidence to anecdotal rationalizing, so please bear with me (or skip the dense parts).

At any rate, please don’t drink and drive yourself back to delirium after sustaining an initial concussion. I’ve been there many times, and it’s oh-so not worth it.