Alcohol linked with brain shrinkage

Studies have shown that having a drink or two a day may be good for the heart, but a new study suggests that moderate drinking may not be good for the brain. The study of people in their 50s and 60s found a possible link between low-to-moderate drinking and reduced brain size. Chronic alcohol abuse is known to reduce brain volume, but the effect of moderate drinking on the brain is uncertain. Some studies have found that light-to-moderate drinking reduces the risk of stroke in some people. But research in people 65 years or older has found a connection between drinking and a reduction in brain size.As people age, they sometimes change their drinking habits, researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Maryland, USA set out to measure the effect of alcohol consumption in a somewhat younger group of people. Their study included more than 1,900 people ages 55 to 64, who underwent brain scans with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Data on alcohol consumption were based on self-reports.

They found that light-to-moderate drinking did not seem to have a protective effect on the brain. Light (one to six drinks a week) to moderate (seven or more drinks a week) drinkers were no more likely to have signs of dead brain tissue show up on the MRI scan. Among drinkers, each additional drink consumed per week was associated with a decrease in brain volume. This association was seen in men and women. But researchers caution that the reduction in brain size was small, and whether such a reduction has any significant effect is unknown. The study is not the first to suggest that drinking can affect brain volume, but it does provide evidence that the process may begin sooner than expected. However the impact of drinking on brain health and the risk of stroke remains uncertain. The clinical significance of the small reduction of brain volume associated with moderate alcohol drinking observed in the present study is unknown.

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