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Even moderate alcohol consumption can change the brain in the long term
One or two glasses of wine or beer will not be so bad, many think. But alcohol can have negative effects even in very small quantities. For example, a recent UK study suggests that even moderate consumption of alcohol has harmful effects on the brain.
Effects on the brain
Every now and then you can hear or read that it is healthy to drink a glass of red wine every day. On the other hand, the risks of regular alcohol consumption are constantly being warned. A recent study published in the journal "The BMJ" showed that even small amounts of alcohol can alter the brain. In addition, the researchers from the United Kingdom could not find any protective effect through moderate drinking.
Researchers have found that even small amounts of alcohol can dramatically change the brain. They have not found a protective effect through moderate consumption. (Image: Africa Studio / fotolia.com) High alcohol consumption damages your health
In Germany, people drink more than average alcohol. This has health consequences.
Who drinks, harms his body: A high consumption can harm in principle any organ of the human body. Alcohol increases the risk of numerous diseases such as high blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmia, heart failure, fatty liver and nerve damage.
According to the Department of Addiction Issues (DHS), a person dies statistically "every seven minutes in Germany because the alcohol has damaged the liver and pancreas, throat, stomach and intestines or the cardiovascular system".
Even small amounts can have a negative effect
However, there are also studies that point out that small amounts of alcohol, such as a glass of red wine a day, could have positive effects on health - and especially on the cardiovascular system.
But even low alcohol consumption can trigger seven different types of cancer, scientists have found.
The fact that even relatively small amounts of alcohol can have a negative effect has now been determined by a research team from the United Kingdom.
Degradation of nerve cells in the brain
For the study, researchers from Anya Topiwala, University of Oxford, evaluated data from a total of 550 healthy women and men screened in the so-called Whitehall II study.
According to a statement from the university, the subjects were not alcohol dependent and on average 43 years old.
At the end of the study, their brains were examined by magnetic resonance imaging.
It was found that those who consumed more than 240 grams of alcohol weekly had an increased risk of breaking down nerve cells in the hippocampus compared to those who did not drink. This brain region is responsible for memory and learning.
In addition, the researchers found that study participants who abstained from alcohol had better cognitive-language abilities after years than those who drank small, moderate or large amounts of alcohol.
Even among "moderate drinkers" (alcohol levels between 116 and 168 grams per week), there was evidence of cell depletion in the hippocampus.
No protective effect of alcohol detectable
The scientists pointed out that they could not detect any protective effect of small amounts of alcohol.
Their study thus contradicts other studies that concluded that whoever only drinks alcohol moderately, does not harm heart and brain.
"Our findings reaffirm the recent reduction in British safe limits for alcohol and challenge current US policies," the researchers write. Last year, the guidelines were reformed in the United Kingdom.
Accordingly, both women and men should consume no more than six beers per week.
The study authors pointed out that their study is an observational study, so a causal relationship is not proven. Nevertheless, the publication would make it more difficult to justify moderate drinking. (Ad)