Even moderate drinking could harm the brain
Source: CBS News
Heavy drinking can lead to a number of serious health problems, including increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and dementia, but consuming even moderate levels of alcohol could be dangerous, as well, new research suggests.
The study, published in The BMJ, finds that moderate drinkers were three times more likely to experience a decline in mental skills than people who drank no alcohol at all.
For the study, researchers analyzed data on weekly alcohol intake in 550 healthy British men and women over a period of 30 years. The participants had an average age of 43 at the start of the study in 1985 and none were alcohol dependent.
They were given brain function tests at regular intervals, and during the last three years of the study participants underwent an MRI brain scan.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/even-moderate-drinking-could-harm-the-brain/
Until recently, some doctors were advising a glass of red wine a day as a preventive for dementia.
BlueStater
(7,596 posts)Never started drinking and never intend to.
brooklynite
(94,581 posts)Sitting in front of the fireplace with a great cabernet...
progressoid
(49,991 posts)Or sitting at the computer with an average merlot.
Or binge watching VEEP with a cheap Pinot Noir.
Or, currently, numbing my brain with a gin and tonic after listening to the Comey testimony. (I'm self-employed & my boss is OK with an occasional after-lunch beverage)
Warpy
(111,267 posts)I drank when I was young, stopped when it started to trigger migraines. I missed beer. I still miss beer
I drank very little. I just miss being able to.
However, alcohol itself is a poison and they've known it is toxic to the central nervous system forever. However, our livers are designed to detoxify it in moderate quantities. Overwhelm the system with large quantities, cirrhosis and CNS problems happen.
I still miss beer, rare though it was.
OnDoutside
(19,957 posts)accustomed to alcohol and have had fantastic times "under the influence", but of course there are some people who it doesn't agree with. I have hollow legs when it comes to alcohol, but nowadays I can take it or leave it, in fact I haven't had a drink in 3 months. It doesn't bother me if I do or don't have alcohol, but I do love an "occasion" the best of which is the unexpected occasion. A father and son friends of mine can drink lots of beer, but both go loopy if they drink whiskey.
brooklynite
(94,581 posts)theaocp
(4,237 posts)prohibition. It's what those in the know tell us is the way to help society. Who cares if it didn't work by Constitutional Amendment? Let the states do it (as all good conservatives keep telling me is so fucking awesome) and we get #freedom or something.
deurbano
(2,895 posts)dhill926
(16,339 posts)roscoeroscoe
(1,370 posts)eom
deurbano
(2,895 posts)so it's available. (He likes bluegrass, too.)
BootinUp
(47,156 posts)MissB
(15,810 posts)But I do enjoy wine. Just not that often- like a glass every other month or so.
Despite that, my doctor went ballistic on occasional drinking at my annual appointment in March. I'm like - 6 times a year --- maybe--- and I get a five minute lecture on the effects of alcohol? She's been my primary care physician for 15+ years and has never said one word about my level of (non) drinking.
I was pretty shocked. Anyway, maybe she read the study. I'm not going to change this behavior. Six drinks a year can't kill me or alter my brain that much.
LSFL
(1,109 posts)I am well and truly screwed. But if my country continues on this course alittle dementia might be just the thing.
Mosby
(16,317 posts)jrthin
(4,836 posts)If one is unaware that they are alive? Or aware of what it means to be alive?
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Nevernose
(13,081 posts)Everything you know about the brain comes from brains, and therefore all knowledge about brains is FROM brains. Science! Researchers like me call this "brain bias." The best way to avoid Brain Bias is to use as little of one's brain as possible, which is best accomplished by drinking as often as is socially acceptable and doesn't get one fired from one's day job.
It's simple logic, folks.
EarthFirst
(2,900 posts)If occasional to moderate use increases my risk, that's life I suppose.
I figure I'm going when I'm going anyways...
roomtomove
(217 posts)it does give me clarity and relaxes me in this world of Trump.
The study involved British subjects which tainted the study.
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)Duppers
(28,123 posts)This gawdamn teetotaler.
Now, explain THIS, ye sacrosanct folks here bragging about not drinking.
I once lent an ear to a friend who had attempted suicide and had been hospitalized afterwards. Asked him if he'd "ever thought of getting high instead of trying to end it all?" *
The teetotaler (of cannabis and drink) said he "didn't believe in drugs!!!"
True story!
* Not that I expect using will solve problems but cannabis helped me get a better perspective when I was at the end of my rope decades ago.
Danmel
(4,915 posts)I'll take my chances.
Ferretherder
(1,446 posts)...I drink a lot of wyne, almos evry niht, and it duznt seam to hav cawzed me iny problums. Hell, i theenk il go git anuthr glas..................
...i luv yoo guyz........
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)C'est le vie.
kwassa
(23,340 posts)FIL died at 73 from type 2 diabetes, lifestyle disease, MIL is falling apart at 77, looks twenty years older than she is.
My family, who likes a drink, I have in-laws alive and well at 96. Three of them.
Duppers
(28,123 posts)This was a British study. And after having lived in England 3 yrs, I suspected the British definition of *moderate* was probably a bit different than an American's, so I read the article and found...
"...drinking moderately (14 to 21 units per week about 5 to 7 beers or 6 to 8 glasses of wine)"
That's just a wee bit more than my definition of moderate. I'm an-every other-day, just-a-nip type of moderate.
Your mileage may differ.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Doug the Dem
(1,297 posts)I beer dinking fer 41 yearsh and I'm zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
appleannie1943
(1,303 posts)So I will continue to sip on my nightly glass of wine.
underpants
(182,823 posts)ThoughtProvoker
(32 posts)I'm a proud teetotaler. Alcoholic has ruined too many lives for me to get involved with it.
Shell_Seas
(3,333 posts)Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)defacto7
(13,485 posts)following the red wine routine espoused by health experts over the last 10 years. Who do I sue?
jjk.
MosheFeingold
(3,051 posts)And have pretty much followed the pattern of drinking Friday and Saturday about 3 glasses of wine each night. I scored perfectly on my dementia test (as in, no signs of decline) and passed my driver's test just fine (including the new night test).
I also just found work as a public defender to have something to do, which beats greeter at Wal-Mart.
Being Jewish, however, a bit of drinking is mandated by G-d (or at least for Shabbos), so maybe we get a pass.
OnDoutside
(19,957 posts)deurbano
(2,895 posts)MGKrebs
(8,138 posts)deurbano
(2,895 posts)AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)I am a heavy drinker.
deurbano
(2,895 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)Or do any other drugs...or smoke...or chew or drink coffee....ect.
Never figured out how so many folks are rich enough to indulge in such activities.
deurbano
(2,895 posts)wellbeing, thanks to the improved social interaction associated with having a drink with friends at a local pub."
http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-01-06-your-health-benefits-social-drinking
So... just don't drink alone! In my "expert" opinion, the loss of brain cells is more than compensated for by the increase in happiness, but just to make sure, I'll be doing further research at my local pub.