The science on heavy drinking and the brain is clear: The two don’t have a healthy relationship.
People who drink heavily have alterations in brain structure and size that are associated with cognitive impairments.
In a new study from the University of Pennsylvania, researchers found alcohol consumption even at levels most would consider modest—a few beers or glasses of wine a week—may also carry risks to the brain.
They analyzed data from more than 36,000 adults and found that light-to-moderate alcohol consumption was linked to reductions in overall brain volume.
The link grew stronger the greater the level of alcohol consumption.
As an example, in 50-year-olds, as average drinking increases from one alcohol unit (about half a beer) a day to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine) there are linked to in the brain equivalent to aging two years.
Going from two to three alcohol units at the same age was like aging three and a half years.
These findings contrast with scientific and governmental guidelines on safe drinking limits.
Ample research has examined the link between drinking and brain health, with ambiguous results.
Strong evidence exists that heavy drinking causes changes in brain structure, including strong reductions in gray and white matter across the brain.
But studies have suggested that moderate levels of alcohol consumption may not have an impact, or even that light drinking could benefit the brain in older adults.
These earlier investigations lacked the power of large datasets.
If you care about heavy drinking, please read studies about drug combo that shows promise for treating alcoholism, and recovery from alcohol use disorder is complicated but achievable
For more information about heavy drinking, please see recent studies about diet that can reduce alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and results showing a simple way to reduce irregular heart rhythm: No alcohol drinking.
The study is published in Nature Communications and was conducted by Gideon Nave et al.
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