Drinking Beer or Wine Every Day Could Cause Age-Related Diseases

Highlights:

As the brain ages, people can experience memory decline and other brain functions
This could occur faster in older people who drink a pint of beer or one glass of wine daily
The increased DNA damage by alcohol shortens the lifespan of cells present in the brain

Drinking as little as a pint of beer or a glass of wine daily is associated with shrinkage in brain volume, equal to two years of aging, suggests a new study published in the journal Nature Communications.

Understanding the Effects of Alcohol as you get Older

Alcohol consumption contributes to the global burden of disease and is one of the most prevalent mental health conditions worldwide with harmful effects on physical, cognitive, and social functioning.

Excessive alcohol consumption for long period is associated with direct and indirect effects on health including heart disease, nutritional deficiency, cancer, and accelerated aging ().

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‘Alcohol intake could lead to an increased decline in the size of the brain and a faster decline in memory, decision-making, and other brain functions’
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When it comes to brain health, drinking alcohol regularly can affect your memory and ability to think clearly. This is known as mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or alcohol-related brain damage.

More Alcohol, Less Brain Size

To explore more about alcohol damage to the brain in older people, researchers studied MRIs of more than 36,000 middle-aged adults in the U.K. and compared the scans with their reported alcohol intake.

After grouping the subjects by average daily alcohol intake, they found that more alcohol consumption was associated with a more pronounced decline in brain volume irrespective of other factors. For someone who is above 50 years of age, an increase in drinking half a beer or half-glass of wine daily to a full pint or glass of wine was associated with brain shrinkage equivalent to aging two years ().

Even the slight increase, from not drinking to drinking just one alcohol unit a day (equal to half a beer), was associated with smaller brain volume about a half year more brain aging.

More Alcohol Leads to Less Brain Function
One to two drinks a day can make changes in the brain equivalent to aging two years.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for moderate drinking is one drink or less a day for women, and two drinks or less a day for men. When this amount exceeded the consumption level, it decreased the brain volume as shown in the study.

Though few studies in the past showed heavy drinking has been linked to brain shrinkage, some studies suggested moderate drinking may have no effect, and light to moderate drinking may be beneficial for older adults ().

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This study, combined with a growing body of research, suggests the idea that moderate drinking promotes health is no longer appealing.

Cumulative consumption of alcohol is important in studying its effects on the brain and subjects could have had higher or lower alcohol intake before the study.

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In future work, researchers hope to use large datasets to help answer additional questions related to alcohol use. They'd also like to be able to pin down cause rather than correlation.

References:

Facts About Aging and Alcohol - (https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/facts-about-aging-and-alcohol)
Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank - (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-28735-5)
Why Age and Alcohol Don’t Mix - (https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-2022/age-and-alcohol.html)