- University of Pennsylvania researchers found drinking habits can cause significant brain aging.
- Drinking an extra glass per day can cause an exponential increase in aging.
- Researchers claimed that cutting back on the final drink in a night might have a severe effect.
The study claims that drinking a glass of wine or beer each night can cause brain damage, such as it may age your brain by two years. Researchers also analyzed MRI scans of 36,000 adults to calculate their brain size. They have compared the alcohol intake of the volunteers.
The outcomes of their studies suggested 50 years old drank one unit per day. This is the same as half a lower-strength lager beer. It would have a brain six months older than if they kept off the booze.
Pennsylvania University found the link grew even more robust the more people drank in their drinks. As the study data defined, middle-aged adults who drink at least 2 units a day or one glass of wine have the brain two and half years older.
Compared to abstention, increasing the number of units to four per day led to an extra 10 years of aging.
Cutting back on that last drink of the night may significantly influence brain aging, said one of the researchers, Professor Remi Daviet. The findings add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the dangers of alcohol and call into doubt assertions that low-level drinking might be beneficial.
Cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a significant effect in terms of brain aging:
The findings add to the growing body of knowledge concerning the dangers of alcohol intake, casting doubt on assertions that moderate drinking might be beneficial.
The study, published in Nature Communications, used data from the UK biobank to follow people’s drinking habits. Having this dataset is like having a microscope or a telescope with a more powerful lens, said lead author Professor Gideon Nave, a neuroscientist.
With a higher resolution, you can see patterns and correlations that you couldn’t perceive previously. We can identify tiny trends even between drinking the equivalent of half a beer and one beer each day since we have such a huge sample size.
They looked at MRI scan data of 40 to 69 to assess how much white and possessed grey matter was in their brains. Each person was subjected to a single scan. The major component of the brain that processes information is grey matter, whereas white matter serves as a communication channel.
What Happened During the Beer and Brain Aging Study?
With the help of biobanks data, researchers get the MRI brain scan, and, based on those scans, they perform further studies. The scans were compared to pictures of suitably aged brains, with age, smoking status, gender, socioeconomic level, general head size, and genetic heritage all being taken into account.
Gideon Nave, a co-author, feels that the group’s size allowed them to discover minor trends, even consuming half a beer and one beer a day.
He added that having this dataset is like having a more powerful microscope or telescope. With a higher resolution, you can see patterns and correlations that you couldn’t perceive previously.
Emmanuela Gakidou, on the other hand, was not convinced by the findings. She feels the study omitted too many factors, such as the cognitive involvement of each person.
Further, she also said that she believed there is efficient evidence are available that shows brain function decays faster among those that are not engaged in intellectually stimulating activities.
