What is Wet Brain? (Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome From Alcohol)

What is wet brain, how does it develop, and what happens if you don’t get treatment?

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What Is Wet Brain?

Wet brain is an informal term for a life-threatening, dementia-like condition that has been linked with chronic excessive alcohol use. The clinical term for wet brain is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which is often shortened to WKS.

How Does Wet Brain Develop?

Wet brain typically develops in two stages, with the symptoms of Wernicke’s encephalopathy usually appearing first. If a person doesn’t get appropriate treatment when these initial symptoms arise, the condition will likely progress to Korsakoff’s psychosis.

Wernicke’s Encephalopathy

First identified by German psychiatrist and neurologist Carl Wernicke in the early 1880s, Wernicke’s encephalopathy is characterized by three main symptoms:

• Ophthalmoparesis with nystagmus – Weakness or paralysis of eye muscles, which can cause rapid uncontrolled eye movements, double vision, and other vision problems
• Ataxia – Impaired muscle coordination that can affect a person’s ability to walk, maintain balance, and speak clearly
• Confusion – Diminished cognition that may involve disorientation, inability to pay attention, and apparent indifference

These symptoms can appear suddenly and intensify quickly. Once a person begins to exhibit signs, they need immediate treatment. Timely medical care may be able to reverse the damage, or at least halt the progression of symptoms.

Korsakoff’s Psychosis

A few years after Carl Wernicke identified the condition that would eventually bear his name, a Russian neuropsychiatrist named Sergei Korsakoff began to publish his findings on alcohol-induced muscle atrophy and memory problems.

Symptoms of Korsakoff’s psychosis can include:

• Difficulty learning new information
• Short- and long-term memory loss
• Confabulations, or unintentionally making up details to fill memory gaps
• Hallucinations

Though Wernicke and Korsakoff did not collaborate (or even know each other), later research into the causes of the conditions they identified led to the discovery that they are related.

What Causes Wet Brain?

A common follow-up to the question, what is wet brain, is what causes this condition?

As noted earlier in today’s post, Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is commonly associated with long-term alcohol abuse. However, even though most people who develop WKS have histories of problematic drinking, alcohol is not the direct cause of wet brain.

Instead, wet brain is caused by thiamine deficiency. 

What is Thiamine?

Also known as vitamin B1, thiamine is an essential nutrient that plays a key role in the body’s ability to convert carbohydrates, fats, and proteins into energy. 

An ample supply of thiamine is also necessary for forming, storing, and recalling memories, as well as ensuring that both the central and peripheral nervous systems are functioning properly.

The human body does not naturally produce thiamine. Instead, people get it through diet or supplements. Examples of thiamine-rich foods include pork, many types of fish, brown rice, whole grain bread, eggs, and yogurt.

How Does Alcohol Affect Thiamine?

Chronic alcohol abuse can increase your body’s thiamine use while also preventing you from acquiring more. Here are a few ways that heavy drinking can cause a thiamine deficiency:

• People who struggle with untreated alcoholism rarely follow a nutritious diet plan. If you’re not eating the right types of food, you won’t be getting enough thiamine.
• People with alcohol use disorder (alcoholism) often eat food that have high levels of carbohydrates. To metabolize carbohydrates, the body uses more thiamine than it does when breaking down proteins and fats, so a carb-heavy diet can accelerate thiamine depletion.
• Frequent exposure to alcohol can be harmful to the lining of the intestine, which is where much thiamine absorption occurs. Thus, even if you’re eating food with thiamine in it, your body may not be able to extract and absorb the nutrient.
• Long-term alcohol use can impair the functioning of certain enzymes in your brain that are responsible for activating stored thiamine. So even if your body is still capable of absorbing enough thiamine, it won’t be able to use it properly.

Can the Symptoms of Wet Brain Be Reversed?

The ability to halt or reverse the progression of wet brain depends in large part on how quickly the patient receives treatment.

High doses of supplemental thiamine, which are typically administered via intravenous (IV) or intramuscular (IM) injection, are usually the first line of defense when someone is diagnosed with wet brain. 

If the person is in the early stages of Wernicke’s encephalopathy, thiamine supplementation, dietary changes, and abstinence from alcohol may be able to alleviate their symptoms. Depending on the nature of the person’s alcohol addiction, they may need detox, therapy, and ongoing support to maintain their sobriety.

If the condition has progressed to Korsakoff’s psychosis before a person gets help, they may have already incurred irreversible cognitive damage. At this point, supplemental thiamine, cessation of alcohol use, therapeutic services, and medical support may help the patient regain some capabilities, but the likelihood of full recovery can be low.

As described by John C.M. Brust, MD, in the book Neurology and Clinical Neuroscience, untreated WKS is fatal. Among those who receive treatment, Dr. Brust noted, the expected mortality rate is about 10%.

Find Help for Alcoholism in Northern California

The best way to minimize your risk of wet brain and other types of alcohol-related damage is to quit drinking today. If that sounds like an impossible step to take, please know that you don’t have to take it alone. 

Bright Future Recovery is a trusted source of life-affirming care for adults who have become addicted to alcohol and other drugs. Treatment options at our holistic rehab in Northern California include detox, residential care, a partial hospitalization program (PHP), an intensive outpatient program (IOP), and a virtual outpatient program.

In each of these programs, you’ll have the opportunity to work in close collaboration with a team of experienced and compassionate professionals. With our help and a concerted effort on your part, you can build a foundation for a much healthier future, free from the constraints of compulsive alcohol use.

To learn more about how we can help you or a loved one, or to schedule a free assessment, please visit our Admissions page or call us today.