The relationship between alcohol consumption and burns is negative in many ways. Not only are about 50% of adults who sustain burns intoxicated at the time of injury, suggesting that alcohol consumption may have contributed to the incident, but alcohol consumption among burn patients is associated with more serious complications, delayed recovery, and increased morbidity and mortality.
That’s primarily because alcohol alters the body’s inflammatory responses, he says, making it harder for the immune system to do its job.
Kovacs says “The immune system kills the germ by eating it, like Pac Man, and alcohol impairs that cell’s ability to eat the germ, If you get a bacterial infection and your body can’t destroy it, you’ll have more bacteria and things will only get worse”.
In a research study published online in January in the journal Alcohol, Kovacs describes another possible problem caused by the combination of alcohol and burns: impaired cognitive function. Looking at data from patients at the University of Colorado Burn Center, Kovacs and her research team found a correlation between the presence of inflammatory markers in the blood of intoxicated burn patients and delirium during hospitalization, as measured by the Confusion Assessment a methodological tool.
Alcohol related burns impair cognitive function
Kovacs says “There are biomarkers that are associated with cognitive dysfunction in humans, which could be Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, or other conditions, we’re trying to see if this patient population might have a change in the inflammatory milieu in the blood that would later predict a higher incidence of delirium, confusion, and possibly post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Among these biomarkers is the cytokine CCL11, which was recently identified as an indicator of chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive degenerative brain disease that occurs in athletes and others with a history of repetitive brain injury.
Kovacs, who has studied the link between alcohol and burns for more than two decades, has a theory as to why burn patients who drink alcohol have worse outcomes and are at higher risk of delirium burns on the skin cause the release of chemicals that reach other organs, especially the intestines. Because the gut and brain are closely linked, cognitive impairment may occur in burn patients whose immune function is compromised by alcohol.
“For people who have had an injury where alcohol is a factor, we can give them supplements that improve their gut microbiome and thus their immune function, and that can help wounds heal faster and can cause less delirium,” he says.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month, and Kovacs says her research is a timely reminder that drinking alcohol can have serious and unintended consequences.
“There are no real benefits to alcohol at any level of consumption,” he says. “It’s important to reduce or moderate alcohol consumption. If we ask every patient who comes to the emergency department about their alcohol use, and we can realistically assess who is actually drinking at a less than healthy level, we could reduce the number of people who suffer from excessive alcohol consumption .”
Written by: Vaishali Verma
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