Booze Is Good for the Brain?

According to a study published this week, people who suffer a traumatic brain injury have a better chance of survival if they were drinking at the time of the injury. “Of those patients with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury who survive their initial insult, those with alcohol in their system seem to have a slight survival advantage compared to those without alcohol in their system,” said study author Dr. Ali Salim of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Of the patients studied, those who had been drinking before their accident had less severe injuries and spent less time in intensive care than those who had not been consuming alcohol. Additionally, patients who had been drinking before their accident were less likely to die as a result of their injury. But, said Dr. Salim, drinking and driving “is and will always continue to be bad—it contributes to over 40 percent of traffic-related fatalities.”