Alcohol & Health
Treatment
Helping Alcoholics
Medically Reviewed by Annamarie Coy, BA, ICPR, MATS
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“Wet brain” is technically known as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. It is a type of brain disorder that develops due to a vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency.
Its symptoms are similar to dementia. Wet brain can be caused by chronic alcohol abuse.
Wet brain syndrome is the combination of two related conditions occurring simultaneously. They are known individually as Wernicke's encephalopathy and Korsakoff’s syndrome.
Wernicke syndrome develops first and has three symptoms:
Without medical intervention, about 80% of affected people develop Korsakoff syndrome. The main symptom is damage to the nerves and cells of the spinal cord and the part of the brain involved with memory formation.
Specifically, the person experiences problems in learning new information or new memories, and in retrieving the old ones.
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There are two stages of the "wet brain." The first stage is Wernicke's encephalopathy, followed by the second stage, which is Korsakoff psychosis.
The symptoms of wet brain vary depending on the degree to which the brain has been affected.
For Wernicke's encephalopathy, symptoms include:
In more severe cases, or when Korsakoff’s psychosis is reached, symptoms can include:
The root cause of wet brain is thiamine deficiency.
Thiamine, also known as Vitamin B1, is an essential vitamin that must be ingested. It cannot be produced by the body like Vitamin D from the interaction between skin cells and sunlight.
Thiamine is an essential vitamin for the functioning of brain cells. Drinking alcohol hinders thiamine absorption.
Thiamine is a critical component of many cellular processes in the body. Its deficiency can affect all organ systems, including the liver, heart, brain, and kidneys.
On top of this, many people suffering from alcoholism have poor diets. Malnutrition can further diminish thiamine levels in the body.
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Wet brain is sometimes described as “alcohol-related dementia.” It causes damage to the parts of the brain responsible for learning and memory functions.
In the early stages, such as in Wernickes encephalopathy, this damage is often irreversible.
Chronic alcohol abuse can lead to poor nutrition and malabsorption. This means that your body does not take in enough nutrition to be healthy. When Korsakoff psychosis occurs, the damage becomes irreversible.
Studies have shown that alcoholics absorb less thiamine than non-alcoholics.7
Alcohol abuse is the most common cause of thiamine deficiency and wet brain.
However, alcoholism alone cannot account for the onset of wet brain. It's a complex condition brought about by a multitude of factors.
Wet brain can be difficult to diagnose. Its symptoms can resemble alcohol withdrawal or intoxication.
Those suffering from the condition often have trouble identifying and formally diagnosing it.
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Untreated wet brain syndrome can lead to serious complications that get worse progressively.
The most severe of these complications is the progression into Korsakoff’s psychosis. At this point, the brain is irreparably damaged and suffers memory problems, hallucinations, and changes in behavior.
In very severe cases, the physical complication of wet brain syndrome can lead to a loss of brain function that results in coma or even death.
It is possible to reverse the effects of Wernicke Korsakoff syndrome. Brain function can at least partially return within one-to-six months.
Unfortunately, few make a full recovery. It all depends on:
Early intervention is the best way to increase the body's ability to restore normal function.
The primary goal of diagnosing and treating wet brain syndrome is to lessen the symptoms and prevent the disorder from progressing.
Wet brain needs to be treated as soon as possible.
Early-stage treatment can limit and even reverse the harmful effects of thiamine deficiency.
There are three main methods for early-stage treatment, which should all be applied together:
Permanently giving up alcohol will prevent further losses in brain function and nerve damage.
Addiction treatment, such as medically-supervised detox at an inpatient treatment center, might be necessary. Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can be quite severe.
It is important to take the proper steps to ensure one life-threatening condition is not swapped for another by quitting cold turkey.
If you have an alcohol use disorder and a mental health problem, it is essential to seek help for both conditions.
After detox and thiamine levels are regular, all that’s left to do is eat a nutritious and balanced diet. This ensures the effects of wet brain are controlled as much as possible.
Depending on the severity and stage of the condition, this could lead to a full recovery.
However, it might only stop the syndrome from progressing even further. Full recovery from the condition is rare.
Either way, it will be an improvement over the devastating effects caused by untreated Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.
Although, there are different types of alcoholics, alcoholic personalities, and tolerances. The health effects are the same, especially long-term.
Unlike Alzheimer’s disease, WKS symptoms will not get worse over time if you undergo treatment early on.
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