Even Light Drinking Causes Brain Damage
A new study shows that any alcohol consumption ages your brain
Scientists have warned for years that so-called “moderate” drinking, one drink per day for women and two for men, has adverse effects on the brain. But now a new study by the University of Pennsylvania shows that even light drinking — a few beers or glasses of wine per week — is associated with brain shrinkage and cognitive impairment.
According to Henry Kranzler, director of UPenn’s Center for Studies of Addiction, the new findings contradict government guidelines on safe drinking levels.
The study involved looking at brain MRIs of more than 36,000 adults. After controlling for other variables, there was a clear link between any alcohol consumption and decreased brain size. And the more alcohol consumed daily, the greater the shrinkage.
Though researchers could see a difference going from zero alcohol to just half a drink per day, the effects were not linear. Having one drink per day was associated with aging the brain by about six months. But drinking four times as much — four drinks per day — aged the brain by more than 10 years. “The people who can benefit the most from drinking less,” says Gideon Nave, a corresponding author on the study, “are the people who are already drinking the most.”
