In a new study, scientists analyzed MRI scans of 25,000 people. They found that drinking even small amounts of alcohol is bad for the brain. The research paper is published on the medrxiv preprint resource, it has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
Moderate alcohol consumption is a mass phenomenon. Therefore, even its small side effects on the scale of society can be significant. To compound the potential harm, most people are convinced that alcohol in relatively small doses is completely harmless to brain health.
Previous studies have shown that heavy drinking is harmful to the brain. However, data on the effects of moderate drinking remain mixed. Its effect on brain structure has been poorly studied. In addition, some studies have shown that, in theory, wine can be beneficial if not abused.
In the UK, drinking no more than 14 drinks per week is considered moderate. In this country, one standard drink of alcohol is the equivalent of 8 grams of pure alcohol.
The authors of the new study used data from the British Biobank (a large database based on the study of the influence of genes and environmental factors on health). Scientists analyzed information about 25378 participants. They took into account their sex, age, education level, amount of alcohol consumed, size and condition of the brain according to magnetic resonance imaging, medical visits for various reasons, and memory test data.
The more alcohol the study participants took during the week, the less gray matter density they had in the brain. According to the calculations carried out by scientists, about 0.8% of the changes in its volume can be explained precisely by moderate alcohol consumption. Alcohol use has also been associated with poorer connections in the white matter of the brain. The association between alcohol consumption and brain deterioration was more pronounced in people with hypertension and obesity.
The gray matter of the brain and spinal cord consists of the bodies of nerve cells (neurons), which are interconnected by processes White matter — long processes of neurons that connect different parts of the gray matter, and also conduct signals to other organs.
< span>«There is no bottom line where drinking is not harmful — alcohol is harmful in any amount. The lesion affects all brain structures, not just those areas that were previously thought to be damaged, ”Anya Topiwala of the University of Oxford, co-author of the new study, told The Guardian.
The authors note that the figure of 0.8% may seem small. However, this contribution to the disruption of brain structure is four times greater than the effect of alcohol or excess weight on the gray matter.
Unlike previous studies showing that wine in small amounts is good for the brain, the authors of the new scientific work did not find a connection between the type of drink and the state of the brain. They suggest that the whole point is that wine is usually drunk by more educated and wealthy people. It is these factors that most likely explain that wine drinkers perform better on memory tests.