courtesy of pubs.niaaa.nih.gov
A recent study concerning alcohol use and the brain came to my attention because of this headline – Heavy Drinking Strongest Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia.* The analysis of 30 million people admitted to hospitals in France over six years, shows that “over half those with early-onset dementia had a history of alcohol problems.” A history of alcohol use disorders showed the risk for dementia was three times higher than those who did not reach that clinical diagnosis. Of the 30 million records reviewed , with 80% over the age of 60, there were over one million people with dementia, and 945,000 people with alcohol use disorders.
It’s not commonly known that heavy alcohol consumption is a major risk factor for all types of dementia, but it is, and it is particularly a contributor to early-onset dementia, which means under age 65 but significant symptoms can manifest in the fifties.
Another study looked at how alcohol effects brain development in adolescents.** The brain continues to develop after birth to age 25, so adolescents are about two-thirds of the way done. When teens and young adults drink a lot of alcohol it effects their brain’s developing structure, dendrites (each a base of communication between neuron cells), and even changes their genetics. The hippocampus, the center of memory and learning and an important part of our cognition, shows long-lasting effects from consuming heavy alcohol in adolescent rats, and clinical studies of human adolescents who drank “early and consistently across the college years have some deficits in learning and memory.”**
What heavy consumption is, isn’t the same for everyone due to differences in body size, weight, gender, metabolism, frequency, consistency, and other factors in particular to a person. But drinking many alcoholic beverages a day constitutes heavy drinking for anyone. The healthy amount recommended by the CDC if drinking alcohol daily, for adult females is one drink and two for adult men, and it’s the same for beer, wine or liquor, 12 oz., 5 oz., and 1.5 ounces of 80 proof respectively, and 8 oz. of malt liquors. This is only for those persons who can safely drink, meaning they are not addicted, an alcoholic or substance abuser.
In recent years you may have heard that drinking small amounts of alcohol regularly can be healthy for some people. But heavy drinking is what this study of 30 million people in France focused on and their conclusion was that alcohol may be behind the ever increasing prevalence of dementia worldwide.
The lead author of this study, Dr. Michael Schwarzinger, MD, from the Translational Health Economics Network in Paris, France, said “If people are consuming more than a couple of alcoholic drinks a day, they could be putting themselves at increased risk of dementia. Our results suggest that one of the best things you can do for brain health is to cut down on your alcohol intake.”***
Breast cancer is associated with alcohol use, even light use, and we know how much the incidence of this has risen in recent years in the US. I have listed three easy to read overviews of these studies in the sources below with their links for you if this is of interest. ****
The points made in this article may upset some of you reading this information for the first time. That wasn’t my intention. My intention is to present the very important information that we can modify the chance of getting dementia and breast cancer by drinking only light amounts of alcohol or none at all. Please forward this information to anyone who you think may benefit from knowing this. And if it applies to your life, take action now to reduce your risk. This includes eating well, sleeping enough and physical exercise which help your brain function well better.
Sources:
* Medscape, Feb. 20, 2018, Heavy Drinking ‘Strongest’ Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia, by Sue Hughes (of Medscape Medical News) published online – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/892918
**Medscape, Feb. 20, 2018, Dementia for Alcohol-Related Brain Damage?, by Megan Brooks ( of Medscape Medical News) published online – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/892867
*** Medscape, Feb., 20, 2018, Heavy Drinking ‘Strongest’ Modifiable Risk Factor for Dementia, by Sue Hughes published online – https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/892918
****Science Daily, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. “Just one alcoholic drink a day increases breast cancer risk, exercise lowers risk.” ScienceDaily, 23 May 2017. ; Research Society on Alcoholism. “Even light drinking may increase breast cancer risk.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 1 June 2016. ; and Plataforma SINC. “Alcohol intake increases the risk of breast cancer.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 October 2015.
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