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Welcome to The Causeway Retreat Newsletter
"A unique 400 acre private island, just 44 miles from the east of central London, specialising in psychological and addiction medicine."
Welcome once more to the bi-weekly email newsletter published by the Causeway Retreat, one of the UK’s foremost Addiction and Mental Health treatment centres and among the first private firms nationwide to implement the use of Naltrexone in its treatment of Alcohol and Heroin addiction. For our new introductory video, simply follow the link below, or read on to find out what this fortnight’s newsletter has in store:
Following on from our coverage of Alcoholism in the last newsletter, this 6th edition covers some further recent media exposure of events affecting Alcohol consumption in society – namely that of the recent call from the British Medical Association to prohibit all Alcohol advertising in the UK in an effort to cut down on the number of (particularly young) binge drinkers and Alcoholics which they see as a primary problem for the NHS, the private medical sector and society in general.
This fortnight’s newsletter also concentrates specifically on the impact of Alcohol Abuse on the memory including “Alcohol Amnesia” as well as other memory related impairments wrought by the regular over-consumption of Alcohol, such as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. “Alcohol Amnesia” most commonly refers to the period of “blackout” (either fragmented or en bloc memory loss) that many people experience when they consume alcohol in heavy quantities (typically amounts increasing their Blood Alcohol Levels to between 0.20% and 0.30%). An article from an online Asian periodical reports on the legal specifics of one such case for a driver who claimed to have experienced “Alcohol Amnesia” before, during and after a fatal accident. Not only does this article highlight the dangers of disinhibited behaviour whilst heavily intoxicated, it also underlines just how severe the memory impairment brought about by Alcohol Abuse can be.
We continue with an enlightening report from the archives, published in spring 2003 by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in America and entitled: “What happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts and the Brain”. This paper details not only a number of highly regarded reports into the immediate behavioural effects of differing levels of alcohol consumption and the magnitude of subsequent memory impairment, but also the neuropharmacological effects of such inebriation.
The BBC Health section then provides us with a comprehensive guide to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, a condition which causes a loss of specific brain functions, including memory, due to a lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine and which is most commonly associated with medium to long-term Alcohol Abuse.
Finally, our featured publication this time around is entitled “Beat memory loss: The complete guide to making the most of your memory”. Written by neuropsychology and mental health expert Rita Carter and published by Cassell Illustrated, this book examines which parts of the brain govern memory and how memory loss can be controlled. A combination of cognitive therapy exercises to retrain the brain, and advice on drugs to suit individual needs are provided to improve the problems of both short- and long-term memory loss.
As always, we hope that you will find our contributions informative and useful, but above all enjoyable to read. If you have any comments or suggestions that you think would benefit the publication or if you would like to contribute to the ‘featured topic’ section, then please feel free to contact us via the details below.
Dr. Mike McPhillips, BA, MB BS, MRCP, MRCPsych.
Medical Director, Consultant Psychiatrist
Tricky balance as BMA tackles alcohol
The tobacco war has been won. Now it is the turn of alcohol. The British Medical Association opened a new front in the battle to cut excessive drinking today with a call for a total ban on advertising and marketing of alcohol, including sports and music festival sponsorship, an end to happy hours and the imposition of a minimum price per unit on alcoholic drinks.
» Click here to read the rest of the story written by The Independent.
What Happened? Alcohol, Memory Blackouts, and the Brain
Alcohol primarily interferes with the ability to form new long–term memories, leaving intact previously established long–term memories and the ability to keep new information active in memory for brief periods. As the amount of alcohol consumed increases, so does the magnitude of the memory impairments. Large amounts of alcohol, particularly if consumed rapidly, can produce partial (i.e., fragmentary) or complete (i.e., en bloc) blackouts, which are periods of memory loss for events that transpired while a person was drinking. Blackouts are much more common among social drinkers—including college drinkers—than was previously assumed, and have been found to encompass events ranging from conversations to intercourse. Mechanisms underlying alcohol–induced memory impairments include disruption of activity in the hippocampus, a brain region that plays a central role in the formation of new autobiographical memories.
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome causes a loss of specific brain functions due to a lack of vitamin B1, or thiamine, which is an essential vitamin involved in helping the body make energy from carbohydrates. It also helps the heart, nervous system and muscles to function properly. It's found in pasta, whole grains, lean meats, fish, fortified cereals, peas, dried beans and soya beans.
Thiamine deficiency is also known as beriberi.
» Click here to read the rest of the story written by BBC Health.
Beat Memory Loss
What we know about the workings of the human brain has increased immeasurably in recent times. We now know exactly which parts of the brain react when we feel panicked, depressed, or overwhelmed emotionally. It is this new science, which can help us to understand how our brain generates the feelings we experience and, in turn, how we can control those feelings. Our capacity to remember things can be affected by age, disease, or damage to the brain. This book examines which parts of the brain govern memory and how memory loss can be controlled. A combination of cognitive therapy exercises to retrain the brain, and advice on drugs to suit individual needs are provided to improve the problems of both short- and long-term memory loss.
About the Author
Rita Carter is a medical and science writer specialising in neuropsychology and mental health. She writes regularly for The Times, Telegraph, New Scientist, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and writes the health pages for SHE magazine. She has won numerous awards for her writing including two for outstanding contribution to medical journalism, and is the bestselling author of Mapping The Mind (Weidenfeld 1998).
Addiction Treatment and Mental Health Blog
We regularly update our official Addiction Treatment and Mental Health Blog, where you can find the latest addiction and mental health treatment news, articles and information. Because the subject for this edition of our newsletter is alcohol and alcohol addiction, we would like to bring you a selection of articles about alcohol, alcohol addiction and related articles about addiction problems from our blog. You can subscribe the RSS feed to stay up-to-date with the news.
- How Many Problem Drinkers Are There
- Disadvantages of Home Detoxification
- Advantages of Home Detoxification
- What Is Alcohol and Alcohol Addiction?
- What is Caffeine?
- All You Need To Know About Over-the-counter Products
- All You Need To Know About Prescription Drugs
- Performance Enhancing Drugs
- All You Need To Know About Alcoholism
- What Is Intoxication?
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