Drinking increases dementia and cognitive risks

A new study has quantified in no exact terms what has long been known only empirically: more alcohol drinks make the brain shrink.

Moderate alcohol consumption, say, a glass of wine after dinner, is medically known to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease. This has led to hypotheses that it could also inhibit the normal shrinkage of the brain associated with age.

As people age, the brain gradually decreases in volume at about 1.9 percent every ten years. White matter lesions also appear progressively with age. These two changes are normally found in people suffering from dementia and deterioration in cognitive abilities (thinking, memory and learning functions).

But while moderate consumption may help the heart, it apparently harms the brain.

The research team from Wellesley College in Massachusetts conducted health examinations on 1,839 adults ranging from age 33 to 88 (average age 60) during the period 1999-2001 and took magnetic resonance images of their brains. All of them were clinically determined to have no dementia or any neurological disease and no previous history of a stroke.

Depending on their reported alcohol consumption per week, they were classified into four categories: abstainers and former drinkers; low (1 to 7 drinks a week); moderate (8 to 14 drinks a week); and high (15 or more drinks a week) consumers of alcohol.

Some of the findings were:

* Most of the participants (nearly 38 percent of men and over 44 percent of women) reported low alcohol intakes. Women tended to drink more lightly than men.

* Increasing consumption was associated with decreasing volume of the brain. This relationship was significant even after taking into account head circumference, age, sex, education, body mass index, and other factors.

* The rate of shrinkage (equivalent of 2.5 percent in 10 years) was somewhat greater than the normal decline associated with aging.

* Contrary to supposition, the effects of moderate drinking closely followed those of heavy drinking. The brains of moderate drinkers showed significantly worse rate of shrinkage than those of former/non-drinkers. Heavy drinkers had significantly smaller brain volumes than all other groups.

* Women appeared to lose brain volumes faster than men at every category of alcohol consumption. The explanation could be biological. Women have more rapid absorption rates for alcohol, have less blood volume to dilute it, weigh less than man, and generally show greater vulnerability to alcohol.

* Alcohol consumption at all levels did not have any links to formation of white matter lesions.

Usually, the risks of dementia and cognitive problems increase with decreasing brain volumes.

Safety Tip:

* If you must drink, drink moderately. Heavy drinking will hurt your brain.