Through the magic of e-mail, I have the definitive response from
Dr. Bill Brown who was the author of that Current Opinion in
Neurology article I cited in a previous post.
He said:
``Central pontine myelinolysis is caused by the treatment. It is
not a direct effect of the alcohol, dehydration, or other
processes unique to the patient.``
I believe this is therefore an iatrogenic disease (caused by the
doctoring--a unfortunate event not entirely unknown in the field
of psychology either).
Moreover, Dr. Brown kindly reviewed for me the kinds of damage to
the central nervous system produced by alcohol (primarily
Korsakoff`s syndrome and aphasia) but did not include
demyelination among them.
So if Traci is still out there, she should tell her students that
if they don`t want to lose their myelin, they can drink all they
like. They should just avoid getting treated for it. :=)
-Stephen
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Stephen Black, Ph.D. tel: (819) 822-9600 ext 2470
Department of Psychology fax: (819) 822-9661
Bishop's University e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Lennoxville, QC
J1M 1Z7
Canada Department web page at http://www.ubishops.ca/ccc/div/soc/psy
Check out TIPS listserv for teachers of psychology at:
http://www.frostburg.edu/dept/psyc/southerly/tips/
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