Does alcohol help with pain

News: Society

August 20, 2020, 13:55 • Irina Makarenko • 293880

Kyiv. August 19. UNN. Relieve headaches with a couple of beers. This conclusion was reached by scientists from the University of Greenwich in London.

Claimed to be scientifically proven to relieve the drink. nine0003

Thus, the researchers took into account the data obtained during the 18 experiments. In total, more than 400 volunteers took part in the study - the results were very unexpected.

So, it turned out that two glasses of the mentioned drink cope with a headache more effectively than paracetamol.

READ ALSO: Brown-eyed vs blue-eyed: scientists told who is more susceptible to alcohol.

"The results suggest that alcohol is an effective pain reliever that provides clinically significant underestimations of pain intensity," the scientists said. nine0003

Earlier, scientists from Canada stated that wine can help the human body defend itself against coronavirus, and scientists from the United States came to the conclusion that red wine helps fight mental disorders.

Experts from the University of Washington Medical School, in turn, stated that wine is also able to "protect" eyesight. In all cases, we are talking exclusively about moderate consumption of the drink.

As reported in UNN, in Ukraine, the State Statistics Service recorded an increase in the popularity of domestic wine. Its Ukrainians began to buy in stores more often than imported. nine0003

Let's clarify that the 5 most famous Ukrainian wine brands today are as follows: "Koblevo", "Shabo", Koktebel, Inkerman and Oreanda.

Source: UNN

Tags: pain, alcohol, research

Subscribe to the UNN news channel in Telegram

Latest news of the section

Saturday, December 17, 2022

• 17:54

  The main Christmas tree of the country shone in Kyiv. While in test mode

• 17:11

  Underground and on generators: National selection for Eurovision 2023 started in Ukraine

• 16:42

  The woman who was released during the exchange has her sons returned. The guys were kept in the occupied territory and in the Russian Federation

• 15:40

  Dictionary.com has chosen the word of the year - "woman"

• 13:52

  Brovary was left without water supply and heat - mayor

Related news

Friday, August 21, 2020

• 13:52

  The Armed Forces of Ukraine decided to abandon the 120-millimeter Molot mortars

• 13:35

  In Donbas militants are increasing the combat effectiveness of army corps - intelligence

• 13:21

  JFO: since the beginning of the day, no shelling by militants was recorded

• 13:08

  "The city of the revival of shipbuilders": Zelensky came up with a "brand epithet" for Nikolaev

• 13:07

  UAH 92 million allocated from the capital budget for payments on Independence Day

Alcohol and pain - Neurology — LiveJournal

Previous Entry | Next Entry

In the mechanisms of action of alcohol (ethyl alcohol) there are several aspects that are undoubtedly reflected in the occurrence and change of pain. First of all, this is the similarity of the action of alcohol and endorphins (due to which neural networks and synapses perceive alcohol as an endorphin). Alcohol in small doses, like endorphins, has a psychostimulating effect, which is accompanied by a feeling of increased physical activity, an increase in mood with a touch of pleasure - euphoria. The psychostimulating effect of alcohol is due to complex neurophysiological changes in neurotransmitter and neuromodulatory mechanisms. The most pronounced response to alcohol intake is noted in the following neurotransmitter systems: dopamine, glutamate, GABA, endogenous opioids (endorphin and enkephalin). The last three systems are widely represented in the brain, and therefore the effect of alcohol is of a pronounced general nature. The listed neurotransmitter systems are responsible for the organization of neuronal activity, regulation of mood, attention, memory, learning, the level (quality) of cognitive processes and the threshold of pain sensitivity. It is important to note that the psychostimulating effect of alcohol is accompanied by an increase in the threshold of pain sensitivity. That is why, against the background of intoxication, damage to the body can be perceived as insignificant or not registered at all by the subject until the effect of alcohol passes and the basic level of pain thresholds is restored. However, more often after the removal of alcohol from the body, a decrease in pain sensitivity thresholds is observed due to depletion or feedback inhibition of the synthesis of neurotransmitters and an increase in the activity of their capture and resorption. As a result, there is a pathophysiological basis for acute pain syndromes typical of the post-alcohol period. nine0002 Today, the idea of ​​the mechanisms of information transfer through synaptic structures has been supplemented by the idea of ​​information transfer using the method of interneuronal interaction through extrasynaptic receptors. In some parts of the brain, the density of receptor structures outside the classical synapse can be significantly higher than in the synapse itself (70% of dopaminergic axon varicose veins are asynaptic and are capable of actively releasing the neurotransmitter). Consequently, various mediator compounds can enter the intercellular environment, which means that complex relationships between mediators arise at the extrasynaptic level, and this ensures flexible, highly plastic work of neuron patterns. The entry into the intercellular environment of alcohol, which is perceived as endorphin, and an increase or decrease in its concentration changes the relationship of the extrasynaptic level and contributes to a change in pain sensitivity thresholds and the appearance or suppression of pain. nine0003

An independent link in the pathogenesis of pain in alcohol addicts is the effect of alcohol on the state of receptors in various structures of the nervous system. The study of the dynamics of the activity of dopamine D2 receptors using X-ray contrast methods has established that after repeated administration of alcohol, a pronounced depletion of dopamine D2 receptors is recorded. The level of exhaustion corresponds to the critical level and affects the ability to receive pleasure and reward. Undoubtedly, the depletion of dopamine receptors affects the entire cascade of neurotransmitter dynamics and pain thresholds. The ability to receive pleasure and increase pain thresholds in such depletion are restored with the introduction of alcohol or after a long period of rehabilitation and restoration of the activity of dopamine D2 receptors. nine0003

Glial cells are actively involved in the formation of pain. It turned out that they have their own analgesic potential. A study (Whitten L., 2008) of patients with alcohol dependence and pain syndromes found that inhibition of glial cells led to a decrease in pain intensity. Conversely, their activation increased the pain. From this, the author concluded that glia is involved in the formation of neuropathic pain, typical of alcoholic polyneuropathies. This study, extended to the use of opioids, found that increased glial activity reduced the analgesic effects of opiates. The presented data gave reason to believe that, on the one hand, glial cells are involved in the formation of tolerance to opioids, and on the other hand, these data explain the ineffectiveness of opioids in neuropathic pain. If these data are extrapolated to the effect of alcohol on glial cells, it becomes clear why in the later stages of alcoholism complicated by polyneuropathies, alcohol does not alleviate neuropathic pain. nine0003

The effect of alcohol on pain is closely related to biorhythms. For example, for the relief of pain at night, a significantly larger amount of analgesics is required. The same dynamics of the analgesic effect is characteristic of alcohol. Diurnal fluctuations also affect the resistance to the toxic effects of alcohol, it decreases at night.

In the pathogenesis of pain in the post-alcoholic period, there is also a contribution from inflammatory processes caused by the general toxic and vascular effects of alcohol. Alcohol in the body is oxidized to acetaldehyde due to the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase and alcohol oxidase (further, acetaldehyde is oxidized by aldehyde dehydrogenase to acetate, which is then included in the citrate cycle with the formation of macroergic bonds). Acetaldehyde is highly toxic, as it is involved in free radical damage to cell membranes and cell microstructures, it can cause brain edema, neuronal death, and damage to the blood-brain barrier. These mechanisms are clearly reflected in the clinic of acute alcohol poisoning, which is accompanied by intense headache without a clear localization. A throbbing or pressing headache often occurs after drinking small amounts of alcohol in individuals who drink it infrequently. With the systematic use of moderate doses of alcohol, there are often complaints of diffuse dull headache, combined with a violation of the autonomic balance and general vascular symptoms. An independent complex of pain disorders occurs in patients with alcoholism in the structure of the withdrawal syndrome and in the event of somatic diseases of alcoholic origin. In such observations, a combination of acute pain syndromes and chronic pain syndromes with different localization is possible. nine0003

Self-contributing to the relationship between alcohol and pain are mood disorders that occur within alcohol dependence (which is replete with affective disorders such as anxiety and/or depressive disorder). Studies of the pathogenetic mechanisms of depression and chronic pain have established the presence of common links in the pathogenesis of these conditions (this is reflected in the fact that the depression clinic is replete with various algic phenomena, and chronic pain is necessarily complicated by anxiety and depressive syndromes). The increase in the prevalence of chronic pain in depression and anxiety (and depression and anxiety in chronic pain) is associated with biochemical characteristics that have common links for all types of disorders. These include involvement of the serotonergic and noradrenergic systems and hypercortisolemia. Most often, pain disorders occur in depression caused by exhaustion and impaired noradrenergic transmission. With alcoholism, depletion of almost all neurotransmitter systems gradually develops, both due to the direct influence of chronic alcohol consumption, and due to the development of systemic disorders and secondary shifts in associated neurotransmitter systems. nine0003

© Laesus de Liro