About the benefits of drunkenness

When I stumble across another medical news of AMI-TASS's work on the Internet, I usually immediately throw it to the photo. Patamushta kriatiff on this course is 101% – KG/AM (sorry mua, it's hard to talk about these akhtungs in non-Alban).

But sometimes, with squeamish curiosity, I still open it. So yesterday I read their note, in which the information of the original source was once again distorted in a particularly perverted way:

Teetotallers risk getting depressed and impairing brain functionComplete abstinence from alcohol reduces the brain's ability to produce new neurons, slows down the process of neurogenesis (against the general background of illiteracy, AMI-TASS is quite excusable such a trifle as ignorance of the Russian word "neurogenesis" – CS), can increase the likelihood of developing chronic depression.

A causal link between alcohol abstinence and depression was discovered by scientists at the University of North Carolina.

(I moved the end of the first paragraph down to twist the intrigue – ZS).

The exclusion of alcohol from life does not benefit the body, as many think, neurologists believe. According to them, moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages is a more reasonable choice for maintaining good health. People who limit drinking alcohol as much as possible or refuse it altogether have a decrease in the number of nerve cells in the brain area called the hippocampus. Proper functioning of the hippocampus is critically important for learning skills (what is your native language, eh? – CS), memory and mood regulation, explain American doctors. If the brain is unable to form new neurons, its functionality decreases and, as a result, there are prerequisites for depression.

Is everything clear to you, comrades? And now watch your hand: here it is, the temporarily cut off end of the paragraph:

The experiment was conducted on laboratory mice who voluntarily drank alcohol for 28 days, and then were deprived of this opportunity. After 14 days, the rodents showed initial signs of decreased mental function and depressive symptoms.

That is, mice were first turned, if not into complete alcoholics, then into household drunkards who were used to going drunk all day, and then they were given abstinent cider. And the conclusion in the press release of the university is directly perpendicular. However, I had to rummage through the news feeds: on the website of The University of North Carolina, nothing is said about the benefits of drunkenness, and at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, too, and the third of the North Carolina namesake brothers, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, found a note that inspired the translator's imagination:

UNC study ties ending moderate drinking to depression 

Read the full text yourself if you want (and understand in American), and in short the message boils down to the following:

It has long been known that moderate alcohol consumption slightly reduces the likelihood of heart disease, stroke and some forms of cancer. (In all articles on this topic, instead of "moderate", you should read "homeopathic", especially from the Russian point of view: 40 ml of forty-degree, or a glass of dry, or half a liter of weak beer per day – ZS).

The authors of an article published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology have shown that withdrawal syndrome when refusing a habit of daily drinking, even in moderate doses, can lead to a deterioration in health, including depression and a decrease in the ability of brain stem cells to form new neurons.

Taking antidepressants during the first two weeks of abstinence prevents the development of depression and restores the process of neurogenesis.

The fact that antidepressants alleviate the suffering of alcoholics who are quitting is a banality, and the essence of the work is that the authors have shown a possible mechanism of their action in the treatment of withdrawal syndrome.

And not a word about the fact that scientists recommend giving in moderation and in no case throwing, or that people who do not drink or limit their alcohol needs "have a decrease in the number of nerve cells in the brain area."

And neither the head of the study, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology Clyde Hodge (Clyde W. Hodge), nor any of his numerous co-authors could say such nonsense. Most likely, this is the translator's personal opinion. And I'm even almost sure I guessed what it's based on :)

A Healthy Skeptic
Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru11.07.2008