Before you pour that nightly glass of beer or wine, consider this: You could be doing lasting damage to cognition and memory. So suggests new research published in The BMJ this month, which found having just four strong beers or five glasses of wine a week is linked to increased risk of mental decline. While these findings run in direct opposition to other studies that have shown moderate drinking can be good for your health, the size and depth of this research can’t be ignored: The authors looked at data from 550 healthy middle-aged Brits, and analyzed changes in their brain structure and cognitive abilities during a 30-year period. The people evaluated in this study were mostly well-educated, middle-class government workers, none of whom were addicted to alcohol. Still, the researchers accounted for factors that could influence brain health, such as age, physical activity, smoking, and stroke risk. Despite these factors, the more alcohol these folks drank, the worse shape their brains were in.
MORE: Drinking Can Cause Cancer: What You Need to Know
Read article
Looking at the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory and one that atrophies in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the heaviest drinkers had the most shrinkage. But even those who consumed a weekly four to six beers, or five to seven glasses of wine, were a staggering three times more likely to have hippocampal atrophy than nondrinkers. “Since hippocampal size is associated with memory, you would expect people with smaller hippocampi to have poorer memory either now or in the future,” says lead author Anya Topiwala, a psychiatry researcher at the University of Oxford. There was no protective effect from imbibing one to four beverages a week. As for other areas of the brain, “we found the higher alcohol consumption, the lower the grey matter density in the hippocampi and amygdalae and the poorer the quality of the white matter tracts — the ‘cabled wires’ — in the brain,” Topiwala says. “Both effects were significant. Reduced grey matter and white matter microstructure are each associated with poorer cognitive function.” The study also found that moderate drinkers declined more quickly on a lexical fluency test, which asks people to come up with as many words beginning with a certain letter as they can within one minute. Topiwala says this task reflects complex cognitive processes.
ALSO: Brain Training: Are We Over-Thinking It?
Read article
The fact that moderate drinking had such a profound impact on brain structure surprised the researchers, mainly because past studies have suggested it may protect against memory loss and dementia. “I suspect the discrepancy is because previous studies did not fully account other characteristics of moderate drinkers,” Topiwala says. “For instance, we know that people with higher IQs and education, those who would do better at memory tests, drink more. These characteristics may have masked the true effects of moderate drinking.” Because this was an observational study, it can’t tell us exactly how a handful of drinks a week impacts the brain. But according to Topiwala, it’s very difficult to investigate this question any other way. She says that with heavy use, alcohol acts as a toxin to brain cells and also leads to vitamin deficiency, so it’s possible that moderate drinking may yield these same effects, albeit to a milder degree. Reason enough to ask yourself if you really need tonight’s “just because” beer.
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
More News
The Best Mindfulness Apps for 2023, According to Experts
Work on That Core With The Vinsguir Ab Roller in Your Home
Fuel Up For Your Workouts With Core Power Protein Shakes
Best Testosterone Booster: Top 5 Supplements For Men of 2023
Best Green Powders of 2023 to Boost Your Health
Fortify Your Body With The Optimum Nutrition Multivitamin
All Stories
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
Before you pour that nightly glass of beer or wine, consider this: You could be doing lasting damage to cognition and memory. So suggests new research published in The BMJ this month, which found having just four strong beers or five glasses of wine a week is linked to increased risk of mental decline.
While these findings run in direct opposition to other studies that have shown moderate drinking can be good for your health, the size and depth of this research can’t be ignored: The authors looked at data from 550 healthy middle-aged Brits, and analyzed changes in their brain structure and cognitive abilities during a 30-year period. The people evaluated in this study were mostly well-educated, middle-class government workers, none of whom were addicted to alcohol. Still, the researchers accounted for factors that could influence brain health, such as age, physical activity, smoking, and stroke risk. Despite these factors, the more alcohol these folks drank, the worse shape their brains were in.
MORE: Drinking Can Cause Cancer: What You Need to Know
Read article
Looking at the hippocampus, a brain region important for memory and one that atrophies in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease, the heaviest drinkers had the most shrinkage. But even those who consumed a weekly four to six beers, or five to seven glasses of wine, were a staggering three times more likely to have hippocampal atrophy than nondrinkers. “Since hippocampal size is associated with memory, you would expect people with smaller hippocampi to have poorer memory either now or in the future,” says lead author Anya Topiwala, a psychiatry researcher at the University of Oxford. There was no protective effect from imbibing one to four beverages a week.
MORE: Drinking Can Cause Cancer: What You Need to Know
Read article
MORE: Drinking Can Cause Cancer: What You Need to Know
As for other areas of the brain, “we found the higher alcohol consumption, the lower the grey matter density in the hippocampi and amygdalae and the poorer the quality of the white matter tracts — the ‘cabled wires’ — in the brain,” Topiwala says. “Both effects were significant. Reduced grey matter and white matter microstructure are each associated with poorer cognitive function.”
The study also found that moderate drinkers declined more quickly on a lexical fluency test, which asks people to come up with as many words beginning with a certain letter as they can within one minute. Topiwala says this task reflects complex cognitive processes.
ALSO: Brain Training: Are We Over-Thinking It?
Read article
The fact that moderate drinking had such a profound impact on brain structure surprised the researchers, mainly because past studies have suggested it may protect against memory loss and dementia. “I suspect the discrepancy is because previous studies did not fully account other characteristics of moderate drinkers,” Topiwala says. “For instance, we know that people with higher IQs and education, those who would do better at memory tests, drink more. These characteristics may have masked the true effects of moderate drinking.”
ALSO: Brain Training: Are We Over-Thinking It?
Read article
ALSO: Brain Training: Are We Over-Thinking It?
Because this was an observational study, it can’t tell us exactly how a handful of drinks a week impacts the brain. But according to Topiwala, it’s very difficult to investigate this question any other way. She says that with heavy use, alcohol acts as a toxin to brain cells and also leads to vitamin deficiency, so it’s possible that moderate drinking may yield these same effects, albeit to a milder degree.
Reason enough to ask yourself if you really need tonight’s “just because” beer.
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
More News
The Best Mindfulness Apps for 2023, According to Experts
Work on That Core With The Vinsguir Ab Roller in Your Home
Fuel Up For Your Workouts With Core Power Protein Shakes
Best Testosterone Booster: Top 5 Supplements For Men of 2023
Best Green Powders of 2023 to Boost Your Health
Fortify Your Body With The Optimum Nutrition Multivitamin
All Stories
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
More News
The Best Mindfulness Apps for 2023, According to Experts
Work on That Core With The Vinsguir Ab Roller in Your Home
Fuel Up For Your Workouts With Core Power Protein Shakes
Best Testosterone Booster: Top 5 Supplements For Men of 2023
Best Green Powders of 2023 to Boost Your Health
Fortify Your Body With The Optimum Nutrition Multivitamin
All Stories
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
More News
The Best Mindfulness Apps for 2023, According to Experts
Work on That Core With The Vinsguir Ab Roller in Your Home
Fuel Up For Your Workouts With Core Power Protein Shakes
Best Testosterone Booster: Top 5 Supplements For Men of 2023
Best Green Powders of 2023 to Boost Your Health
Fortify Your Body With The Optimum Nutrition Multivitamin
All Stories
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
More Videos
The MJ5: Tony Hawk on His Favorite Gear, Why He Always Carries His Board, and More
Here's the Difference Between Bourbon and Whiskey
Young Guns and a Supercharged Catamaran: U.S. SailGP Team Takes on New York City
