Effective Wet Brain Treatment. Stages, Signs, Risks & Causes.

Who Gets Alcoholic Wet Brain?

Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome are not different conditions. They are different stages of the same disease process. Both are due to brain damage caused by a lack of vitamin B1.

Lack of vitamin B1 is common in people who have alcohol use disorder, which can cause wet brain from alcoholism. It is also common in people whose bodies do not absorb food properly (malabsorption). This can sometimes occur with a chronic illness or after weight-loss (bariatric) surgery.

Korsakoff syndrome tends to develop after symptoms of Wernicke encephalopathy go away. Wernicke encephalopathy causes brain damage in the lower parts of the brain called the thalamus and hypothalamus. Korsakoff syndrome results from permanent damage to areas of the brain involved with memory

What are symptoms of wet brain? Symptoms of Wernicke encephalopathy include:

• Confusion and loss of mental activity can progress to coma and death
• Loss of muscle coordination (ataxia) that can cause leg tremors
• Vision changes such as abnormal eye movements (back and forth movements called nystagmus), double vision, eyelid drooping
• Alcohol withdrawal

Symptoms of Korsakoff syndrome include:

• Inability to form new memories
• Loss of memory can be severe
• Making up stories (confabulation)
• Seeing or hearing things that are not really there (hallucinations)

Wernicke’s Encephalopathy

Wet brain is made up of two distinctive components. Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE), a temporary neurological condition, is the first part of WKS. The three defining characteristics of WE are eye movement dysfunction and vision abnormalities, lack of muscular coordination while standing or walking, and mental disorientation and indifference.

People with WE may experience paralysis of the nerves that control their eyes, resulting in uncontrollable eye movements, drooping eyelids, and difficulties tracking objects. People with WE may stagger when they walk or, in more severe cases, lose their ability to walk as a result of coordination problems.

Even though WE has three distinguishing features, a person does not need to display all three of these symptoms to be diagnosed with the condition.

According to studies, many cases of wet brain alcoholism were misdiagnosed since none of the three symptom types were present, making a patient’s overall health examination even more crucial. WE is treatable and brought on by thiamine deficiency, but fast treatment is required for the best possible results.

Korsakoff Psychosis

80% to 90% percent of patients with WE and alcohol addiction go on to develop Korsakoff’s psychosis, a kind of neuropsychiatric dementia. When WE is not treated promptly and effectively,

Korsakoff’s psychosis is thought to develop as a residual illness, causing a variety of symptoms that may become harmful to a person’s ability to function. Alcoholic dementia or alcohol amnestic disease are other names for this syndrome.

Korsakoff’s psychosis is characterized by forgetfulness, hallucinations, and behavioral alterations. Memory problems can include problems remembering recent events (retrograde amnesia) and having trouble creating new memories (anterograde amnesia), which can result in confabulation, and the creation of stories to fill in memory gaps. 

Since the condition damages the parts of the brain that affect memory, Korsakoff’s psychosis is associated with memory problems. People with this illness may exhibit specific behavioral changes, such as being apathetic, irritable, or expressing less emotion than usual, without even being aware of any symptoms.

Is Wet Brain Reversible?

Korsakoff syndrome is most commonly seen in the context of chronic alcohol abuse and is thought to be on the spectrum with Wernicke encephalopathy, however, Wernicke encephalopathy is acute and often reversible while Korsakoff syndrome is chronic and may be irreversible. [3]

Can Wet Brain Be Reversed?

Most symptoms of Wernicke’s encephalopathy can be reversed if detected and treated promptly and completely. Stopping alcohol use may prevent further nerve and brain damage.

However, improvement in memory function is slow and, usually, incomplete. Without alcoholism and wet brain treatment, these disorders can be disabling and life-threatening.