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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Alcoholism not only destroys the liver, it can cause problems with brain functions as well. A new study reveals former alcoholics may be able to recover some of their lost cognitive functioning after staying away from alcohol for six months or more.
Results of the new study from researchers at Neurobehavioral Research, Inc., in Corte Madera, California, reveal alcoholics could recover in many of the domains of cognitive functions -- long- and short-term memory, planning, learning, and comprehension -- after long-term abstinence from alcohol. Spatial procession was not as likely to be restored over time.
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The researchers studied 96 men and women. Half of the group was long-term abstaining alcoholics and the other half of the group was age-matched controls who drank either lightly or not at all.
Researchers suggest these findings may be used to encourage recovering alcoholics to continue with their recovery. More studies are planned to uncover how the age at which an alcoholic starts or stops drinking effects their neurocognitive recovery.
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
SOURCE: Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2006;30
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