More alcohol, less brain?

Do you like to have a couple of drinks when you have nothing to do?

It's well known that drinking too much can have serious effects on the body, including damaging the liver. But how much is too much? For diseases such as cirrhosis, drinking more than 210 grams of pure alcohol per week is usually enough, which is equivalent to about two bottles of wine a week or about 230 ml of beer a day. The UK's chief medical officer recommends that adults drink no more than 140 grams of pure alcohol per week to reduce the risk of disease.

However, the liver isn't the only organ that can be damaged by drinking alcohol - the brain can also be damaged. Drinking above the UK's current low risk limit increases the risk of dementia. A study published in Scientific Reports found that even moderate drinking can lead to a decrease in brain volume.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

To understand the effects of drinking on the brain, researchers surveyed 300 people aged 39 to 45. Most participants said they drank at moderate or low risk levels (less than 140 grams of pure alcohol per week, on average). Even so, brain scans showed that their brain volume was reduced compared to average.

Although the study did not look at the physiological effects of brain tissue loss, any significant brain tissue loss will result in suboptimal brain function. Although the adult brain shrinks gradually with age, early brain loss may accelerate brain shrinkage caused by other pathological conditions, such as high blood pressure and diabetes, which may develop in midlife or later life.

This is critical because we now know that abstinence can partially reverse alcohol-induced brain damage, and we can see this as early as six weeks after complete abstinence, particularly in the frontal lobes, the very front part of the brain that regulates behavior and thinking.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

On March 4, a study published in Nature Communications may make you think twice, because even drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol can cause damage to the brain.

The researchers analyzed data from more than 36,000 adults and found a link between drinking and reduced brain volume, and that even light to moderate drinking can cause damage to the brain.

Brain volume loss begins at an average daily intake of less than one unit of alcohol (about half a beer), and increases with each subsequent drink.

The researchers noted that the higher the level of drinking, the stronger the association. For example, in a 50-year-old, as the average drinking volume increased from one alcohol unit to two alcohol units per day (a pint of beer or a glass of wine), the changes in the brain were equivalent to two years of aging; in the same age group, the average drinking volume increased from two alcohol units to three alcohol units, and the brain was equivalent to aging by three and a half years.

An early study found that smaller brain volume was associated with drinking 70 to 140 grams of pure alcohol per week. This level of drinking also led to a reduced ability to remember words. When we study the effects of alcohol on the brain, it is natural to focus on dementia and study changes in memory. After all, one of the diagnostic criteria for dementia is memory loss. But we now know that alcohol damages the frontal lobes of the brain earlier than those involved in memory. The frontal lobes control our personality, behavior, and flexibility of thinking. These functions are not assessed by tests used to diagnose dementia.

But drinking in a way that is generally considered reasonable and moderate may slowly damage our brains. Given this, it is important to detect damage as early as possible. Fortunately, an eight-point test can now detect early cognitive damage, and mental health service professionals often use it to detect early brain damage caused by alcohol. Some hospitals or general clinics can also perform early frontal lobe function tests.

Copyright image, no permission to reprint

The findings are significant because they reveal the extent to which alcohol can potentially damage our brains, which is often unnoticed.

If we are to address this problem, we need to change both attitudes towards drinking and the way we provide health care. While changing drinking behaviour in older people, we also need to pay attention to early signs of brain damage in all drinkers.

Research into drinking in older people has made progress within public health and mental health policy. However, research into detecting brain damage in drinkers has not made the same progress. Reducing alcohol consumption or quitting drinking altogether can reduce the risk of brain damage. But this also requires maintaining a good lifestyle, including healthy eating habits and exercise.

Source: Global Science

Written by: Tony Rao

Translation: Long Siyu

Original link:

https://theconversation.com/alcohol-and-your-brain-study-finds-even-moderate-drinking-is-damaging-145726

The pictures in this article with the "Science Popularization China" watermark are all from the copyright gallery. The pictures are not authorized for reprinting.