Why suffering a stroke may turn you into an alcoholic
- Rats choose alcohol over water after suffering the life-threatening condition
- The death of brain regions is thought to cause the hormone dopamine’s release
- Previous studies have shown dopamine encourages alcohol-seeking behavior
- This may explain why stroke sufferers struggle to abstain despite the advice
- Researchers believe this is important as increasingly more sufferers survive
Alexandra Thompson Health Reporter For Mailonline
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Brain changes after a stroke may turn people into alcoholics by causing them to seek out booze, new research reveals.
A study has shown rats choose alcohol over water after suffering the life-threatening condition.
This is thought to be due to certain areas of the brain dying, which causes other regions to become more excitable and release a hormone that encourages alcohol-seeking behavior.
The study’s findings may explain why patients often struggle to abstain from alcohol after suffering a stroke despite medical advice to limit their consumption.
Study author Dr Jun Wang from Texas AM College of Medicine, said: ‘More and more people are surviving and recovering after their first stroke. It is important to study behavior change after stroke and how that behavior can affect the chances of having another one, which is often fatal.’
Brain changes after a stroke may cause sufferers to seek out alcohol, new research reveals
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A CREASE IN YOUR EAR LOBES MAY DETERMINE YOUR STROKE RISK
Having diagonal creases across your ear lobes may mean you are at an increased risk of suffering a stroke, according to new research.
Scientists who examined 241 people who had experienced a stroke found more than three-quarters of them had the mark, known as Frank’s sign, on their ears.
It’s thought that clogging of the arteries, which increases the risk of a stroke, also leads to poor blood supply to the ear lobes.
This causes a loss of elasticity and, in turn, visible creasing.
The Israeli researchers from the Baruch Padeh Medical Center, said doctors should consider adding the ear lobe crease to the list of ‘classic risk factors for the development of stroke’.
Yet others think the feature is little more than a sign of advancing years.
Key findings
Researchers from Texas AM College of Medicine analysed rats who had suffered one of the most common types of stroke in humans, known as an ischemic stroke.
Results, published in the journal Scientific Reports, revealed the rats had a much lower overall liquid intake but a significantly higher preference for alcohol over water when they did drink.
Dr Wang said: ‘Their preference for alcohol can be seen five days after stroke and through at least the first month after the stroke.
‘Specifically, when given a choice between water and alcohol, they chose alcohol a higher percentage of the time than they did before the stroke.’
Why does this occur?
The researchers believe strokes kill certain areas of the brain, which prevents the inhibition of specific signals.
This then causes other parts of the brain to become more excitable, resulting in the release of the hormone dopamine.
Dopamine has previously been shown to compel individuals to perform particular actions, such as having a drink.
Why is this important to know?
Inhibiting dopamine’s release may one day be a useful tool to help people resist alcohol after they have had a stroke.
Dr Wang said: ‘It’s important because although stroke is a severe disease, more and more people are surviving and recovering after their first stroke.
‘Therefore, it is important to study behavior change after stroke, and how that behavior can affect the chances of having another one, which is often fatal.’
People who have had one stroke are often advised to limit their alcohol consumption to help prevent a recurrence.
The researchers believe the study’s findings may help explain why compliance with this advice is often poor.
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