Thiamine as a Modifying Factor for Alcohol-Related Intracranial Haemorrhage

In their article,Penget  al., (2020) suggest a number of putative mechanisms for the association between chronic alcohol abuse and intracranial haemorrhage. These include increased sympathetic nervous system activity and oxidative stress mediated by hypertension. Cerebral small vessel rupture from uncontrolled high blood pressure may be further compounded by clotting dysfunction from liver disease, disruption of blood brain barrier integrity and neuroinflammation. Chronic alcohol abuse is also associated with other disorders whose pathological substrate includes intracerebral haemorrhage —with Wernicke’s encephalopathy from thiamine deficiency representing the most common neuropsychiatric entity. Although such intracranial haemorrhage is mostly petechial in nature, larger lesions have also been documented.
Source: Alcohol and Alcoholism - Category: Addiction Source Type: research