Does alcohol really kill brain cells?
– the concentration of alcohol in the brain of even a very drunk person does not come close to the levels required to kill living cells. People become intoxicated with only a tenth of a percent of alcohol in their blood. Alcohol does not target or affect a specific part of the brain, but rather impacts the entire organ so that a few drinks can temporarily block new memory formation, dull thinking, judgment, and reasoning, and reduce muscle control. As you age, your ability to function (hold your alcohol) diminishes. Older people get higher blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) than younger people after consuming a given amount of alcohol and are more affected by a given BAC. Older people are also less likely to realize they are impaired than younger drinkers (age 25 to 35), and likely to do worse on performance tests. Alcohol can also interact with many medications older people take. University of California Berkeley Wellness Letter 6/09, The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine. NEED
