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Even moderate drinking can damage your brain, new research says

The study monitored more than 500 people over 30 years.

MODERATE ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION can damage a person’s brain, researchers have claimed.

Researchers from the University of Oxford and University College London monitored the alcohol intake and cognitive performance of 550 men and women in the UK for over 30 years, from 1985 to 2015.

The research, published in the British Medical Journal, notes that none of the participants were “alcohol dependent”. Their mean age was 43 years and 23 people were excluded from the results because of poor data or others issues.

At the end of the study, researchers conducted MRI scans of the participants’ brains.

After taking into account factors such as age, gender and social activity, researchers found that people who drank more often had a shrunken hippocampus – which is thought to be the centre of emotion, memory and the autonomic nervous system.

While those consuming over 30 units a week were at the highest risk compared with people who didn’t drink, even those drinking moderately (14-21 units/week) had three times the odds of the right side of their hippocampus being affected.

The research found there was no protective effect of light drinking (1-<7 units/week) over abstinence. Higher alcohol use was also associated with faster decline in lexical fluency (vocabulary). No association was found with word recall.

Guidelines 

In Ireland, the weekly alcohol consumption guidelines are up to 11 standard drinks in a week for women and up to 17 standard drinks in a week for men.

A standard drink (also called a unit) here has about 10 grams of pure alcohol in it. In the UK, a standard drink has about eight grams of pure alcohol.

F1.large (1) BMJ BMJ

In the study, researchers note that the following was already known about this topic:

  • Heavy drinking is associated with Korsakoff’s syndrome (a chronic memory disorder), dementia, and widespread brain atrophy (a loss of neurons)
  • While smaller amounts of alcohol have been linked to protection against cognitive impairment, few studies have examined the effects of moderate alcohol consumption on the brain
  • Previous studies have methodological limitations and have provided conflicting findings

They state that the new research finds:

  • Compared with abstinence, moderate alcohol intake is associated with increased risk of adverse brain outcomes and steeper cognitive decline
  • The hippocampus is particularly vulnerable, which has not been previously linked negatively with moderate alcohol use
  • No protective effect was found for drinking small amounts of alcohol over abstinence, in contrast to previous reports

In the paper, the authors state: “Our findings support the recent reduction in UK safe limits and call into question the current US guidelines, which suggest that up to 24.5 units a week is safe for men, as we found increased odds of hippocampal atrophy at just 14-21 units a week, and we found no support for a protective effect of light consumption on brain structure.

“Alcohol might represent a modifiable risk factor for cognitive impairment, and primary prevention interventions targeted to later life could be too late.”

Read: ‘It could take 40 years to provide enough homes for people on Dublin’s housing list’

Read: Man arrested over London attack as police search house

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43 Comments
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    Mute Dermot Mc Loughlin
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    May 13th 2015, 8:16 PM

    I hope they cashew was responsible.

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    Mute Dermot Mc Loughlin
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    May 13th 2015, 8:17 PM

    I’m already leaving.

    129
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    Mute Irene Butler
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    May 13th 2015, 8:20 PM

    Made me laugh

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    Mute Annie Citric
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    May 13th 2015, 10:51 PM

    Nice one!

    2
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    Mute MAN UTDS IRISH REDS
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    May 13th 2015, 7:54 PM

    Do they know what nationality he or she was ?

    263
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    Mute little jim
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    May 13th 2015, 7:58 PM

    Some nut from Brazil.

    404
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    Mute Chris Bruton
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    May 13th 2015, 8:20 PM

    Predictable joke is predictable.

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    Mute The Green Monkey
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    May 13th 2015, 8:24 PM

    What size was the jar………

    36
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    Mute Gary Wilson
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    May 13th 2015, 8:02 PM

    What’s the odds on it being horse?

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    Mute Suzie Sunsine
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    May 13th 2015, 8:15 PM

    What stores sell that here ? I’ve never seen that product before

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    Mute Damien
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    May 14th 2015, 2:27 AM

    The brand or actual Peanut butter?

    If you haven’t tasted it, get some. It’s a gift from god!
    Just stay away from the organic/kelkin stuff, it’s stink

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    Mute Ann-Marie Wallis
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    May 13th 2015, 8:00 PM

    If this happened in the UK, UKIP would be going mad right now.

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    Mute Lily
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    May 13th 2015, 7:56 PM

    As long as s/he is not irish .. Right?

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    Mute Lily
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    May 13th 2015, 7:57 PM

    Small writing –

    No irish people were hurt making this penut butter.

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    Mute Conor Geoghegan
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    May 13th 2015, 8:22 PM

    It’s probably for the best they recall the the product in cashew swallow it .

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    Mute Conker
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    May 13th 2015, 11:19 PM

    They’ll try anything to get into the country these days

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    Mute Mícheál
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    May 13th 2015, 8:05 PM

    I would hope they’re following the correct vetting procedures.

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    Mute Ben Redline
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    May 13th 2015, 8:23 PM

    Such a beautiful story – thank you

    17
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    Mute Ben Redline
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    May 13th 2015, 8:24 PM

    Aahhh where’s the spell-caster comment gone?

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    Mute Dermot Quinn
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    May 13th 2015, 7:56 PM

    Something in peanut butter that shouldn’t be there? Taste?

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    Mute Abi Dennis
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    May 13th 2015, 11:17 PM

    That’s nuts

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    Mute patrick
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    May 13th 2015, 9:39 PM

    More horse meat I suppose.

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    Mute Fran McCarty
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    May 14th 2015, 3:28 AM

    I found a piece of plastic in my ice cream last week. I called the company,and they sent me a check for $5,000 to keep my mouth shut!

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    Mute Cathy Dwyer
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    May 19th 2016, 7:00 AM

    Well you told every one now so you probably need to send back the cheque

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    Mute Neil McDonnell
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    May 15th 2015, 10:03 AM

    Kind of off topic. The link for this article on yahoo has the following description after the Tag line

    Batch of peanut butter recalled in Ireland as it may contain ‘a foreign body’ – Irish Sun
    The Irish government has approved a proposal for the dispatch of an Irish Naval vessel with a crew of 65 personnel to undertake humanitarian search and rescue tasks in the Mediterranean.

    Needless to say I was quite concerned as to why a Naval Vessel was dispatched to deal with a dodge jar of Peanut butter. Luckily it was just a gaff by the yahoo bots.

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    Mute Michael Sands
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    May 14th 2015, 3:04 PM

    Bloody yes referendum voters I suppose lol, that is funny…

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