Even light to moderate drinking can harm your brain, with recent studies showing to dispel the myths that a certain amount of alcohol benefits the heart and kidneys. “One to two drinks a day was associated with changes in the brain equivalent to two years of age,” the study said, adding that heavy drinking was associated with an even greater toll.
The study noted that even moderate consumption of alcohol, such as a few beers or glasses of wine a week, could put the brain at risk. It has been published in the journal ‘Nature Communications’.
“The fact that we have such a large sample size allows us to find subtle patterns, even between drinking half a beer and the equivalent of one beer,” said study and faculty member at Penn’s Wharton. Corresponding author Gideon Neve said. School.
“These findings are contrary to scientific and government guidelines on the limits of safe drinking,” said Kranzler, who directs the Penn Center for the Study of Addiction. “For example, although the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism recommends that women consume an average of no more than one drink per day, the recommended limit for men is double, an amount found in studies with decreased brain function. The associated consumption level exceeds the volume.”
Many studies have already been done on this topic. While some suggest that heavy drinking causes changes in brain structure, including a drastic reduction in gray and white matter in the brain, other studies have suggested that moderate levels of alcohol may not have an effect.
For this particular study, researchers used a dataset of more than 36,000 adults who answered survey questions about their level of alcohol consumption, ranging from complete abstinence to an average of four drinks a day. Or there were more units of alcohol. Even after removing heavy drinkers from the analysis, the associations remained. The scientists found that the lower brain volume was not localized to any one brain region.
“There is some evidence that the effect of drinking on the brain is exponential,” said co-corresponding author Remy DeWitt. “So, one extra drink a day can have a greater impact than any previous drink that day. That means cutting back on that last drink of the night can have a big impact in terms of brain aging.” “
In other words, Nave said, “the people who can benefit most from drinking less are those who are already drinking the most.”
Never miss a story! Stay connected and informed with Mint.
download
Our App Now!!