Meghan Holohan
Treating Brain Injuries With Booze?
by Meghan Holohan - September 24, 2009 - 11:10 AM

bourbon.jpgThe word “whiskey” comes from the Gaelic word usquebaugh, which means “water of life” (anyone know how you get “whiskey” from usquebaugh?) A recent study by Ali Salim at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles found that whiskey—and other liquors—might be elixirs of life for people who have suffered moderate to severe brain injuries.

Salim and his colleagues examined data from more than 38,000 patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries. During admission to the hospital, all the patients’ blood alcohol-levels were measured. Thirty-eight percent (14,419) had ethanol in their bloodstreams. People with alcohol in their system spent less time on a ventilator or in the ICU, and suffered from less serious injuries. They were also younger (37.7 years vs. 44.1 years). Nine percent of all head trauma patients die, but only 7.7 percent of those with alcohol in their systems died, compared to 9.7 percent of people without alcohol in their bodies.

The researchers do not understand how alcohol lessens the severity of brain injuries and protects patients from death. “The sociologic implications are important and have been raised previously,” the authors wrote in the Archives of Surgery. “It is important to note that we examined in-hospital mortality as our outcome measure. It is well established that alcohol contributes to nearly 40 percent of traffic fatalities, and the risk of dying is obviously increased while driving under the influence. However, the finding of reduced mortality in traumatic brain injury patients with pre-injury ethanol raises the intriguing possibility that administering ethanol to patients with brain injuries may improve outcome.”

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Comments (9)

  1. I always understood that alcohol is a vasodilator — that’s the reason why people can feel warmer and have flushed cheeks from drinking. So why should it be so surprising there might occasionally be medical benefits? Especially for head trauma where flow of blood (and the oxygen it carries) is so vitally important?

    posted by VM on 9-24-2009 at 11:29 am

  2. Or it might just be that the boozy patients are younger (by about 6.5 years) and more likely to heal from any injury.

    posted by Erik on 9-24-2009 at 11:37 am

  3. Or it could just be that God watches out for drunks and children…

    posted by Anthony on 9-24-2009 at 12:40 pm

  4. Uisge-beatha is the root word in Scots Gaelic, and if you hear it properly pronounced you can juuuust about hear the word “whisky” in “ooshkie bayha.” Trust me on this, it makes sense if a Scottish person says it.

    posted by tea on 9-24-2009 at 1:17 pm

  5. Note that nearly 40% of accidents involve alcohol while 38% of those who made it to the hospital had alcohol in their bloodstreams. This suggests that more people with alcohol died before reaching the hospital. Maybe that’s why fewer died once they got there. Coincidence does not equal causation.

    posted by Old Geezer on 9-24-2009 at 1:39 pm

  6. Old Geezer…the 40% refers to “fatal” accidents cuased by drivers with alcohol in their system.

    There is no data above to support that the fatalities were either sober or intoxicated persons.

    posted by graham on 9-24-2009 at 4:14 pm

  7. Also, the 38% refers to the percentile of intoxicated persons, out of the 38,000 patients, with moderate to severe brain injuries.

    posted by graham on 9-24-2009 at 4:18 pm

  8. I have a friend who was an EMT. Anecdotaly, he said that people who were drunk had less physical injuries in car accidents and the like. He surmised, that drunk people are totally relaxed at the time of impact and therefor have less injuries than people who get scared and tense up. Maybe this also has an effect on brain injuries.

    posted by Stew on 9-24-2009 at 4:28 pm

  9. I agree with Stew’s friend that alcohol tends to make you more relaxed and less likely to suffer more serious injury.

    posted by peg on 9-28-2009 at 8:32 pm

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