Even moderate drinking could harm the brain

[LongTomH]

Source: CBS News

Heavy drinking can lead to a number of serious health problems, including increased risk of cancer, heart disease, and dementia, but consuming even moderate levels of alcohol could be dangerous, as well, new research suggests.

The study, published in The BMJ, finds that moderate drinkers were three times more likely to experience a decline in mental skills than people who drank no alcohol at all.

For the study, researchers analyzed data on weekly alcohol intake in 550 healthy British men and women over a period of 30 years. The participants had an average age of 43 at the start of the study in 1985 and none were alcohol dependent.

They were given brain function tests at regular intervals, and during the last three years of the study participants underwent an MRI brain scan.

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/even-moderate-drinking-could-harm-the-brain/

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Until recently, some doctors were advising a glass of red wine a day as a preventive for dementia.

[BlueStater]

1. I'm glad to be a teetotaler.

Never started drinking and never intend to.

[brooklynite]

4. Live the way you want, but you're missing out...

Sitting in front of the fireplace with a great cabernet...

[progressoid]

38. Or sitting outside with a great cabernet.

Or sitting at the computer with an average merlot.

Or binge watching VEEP with a cheap Pinot Noir.

Or, currently, numbing my brain with a gin and tonic after listening to the Comey testimony. (I'm self-employed & my boss is OK with an occasional after-lunch beverage)

[Warpy]

8. Ugh, not me

I drank when I was young, stopped when it started to trigger migraines. I missed beer. I still miss beer

I drank very little. I just miss being able to.

However, alcohol itself is a poison and they've known it is toxic to the central nervous system forever. However, our livers are designed to detoxify it in moderate quantities. Overwhelm the system with large quantities, cirrhosis and CNS problems happen.

I still miss beer, rare though it was.

[OnDoutside]

40. If you haven't started by 20, you're probably better off not starting at all. Being Irish, I'm well

accustomed to alcohol and have had fantastic times "under the influence", but of course there are some people who it doesn't agree with. I have hollow legs when it comes to alcohol, but nowadays I can take it or leave it, in fact I haven't had a drink in 3 months. It doesn't bother me if I do or don't have alcohol, but I do love an "occasion" the best of which is the unexpected occasion. A father and son friends of mine can drink lots of beer, but both go loopy if they drink whiskey.

[brooklynite]

2. Next they'll be saying chocolate is bad for you...

[theaocp]

3. Well, the obvious answer is

prohibition. It's what those in the know tell us is the way to help society. Who cares if it didn't work by Constitutional Amendment? Let the states do it (as all good conservatives keep telling me is so fucking awesome) and we get #freedom or something.

[deurbano]

5. That's depressing. Too early (Pacific Time) for a glass of wine?

[dhill926]

10. never too early...

[roscoeroscoe]

29. Whiskey before breakfast!

eom

[deurbano]

39. Well, my husband actually distills whiskey (and gin) for a living...

so it's available. (He likes bluegrass, too.)

[BootinUp]

6. And still smarter than the average dodo, heh

[MissB]

7. I don't drink much.

But I do enjoy wine. Just not that often- like a glass every other month or so.

Despite that, my doctor went ballistic on occasional drinking at my annual appointment in March. I'm like - 6 times a year --- maybe--- and I get a five minute lecture on the effects of alcohol? She's been my primary care physician for 15+ years and has never said one word about my level of (non) drinking.

I was pretty shocked. Anyway, maybe she read the study. I'm not going to change this behavior. Six drinks a year can't kill me or alter my brain that much.

[LSFL]

9. well hell

I am well and truly screwed. But if my country continues on this course alittle dementia might be just the thing.

[Mosby]

11. Maybe, but we know drinkers live longer

https://psmag.com/social-justice/truth-wont-admit-drinking-healthy-87891

[jrthin]

17. But what is the purpose of living longer

If one is unaware that they are alive? Or aware of what it means to be alive?

[Major Nikon]

12. Gives getting drunk and stupid a whole new meaning

[Nevernose]

13. Such bullshit! Here's some REAL science:

Everything you know about the brain comes from brains, and therefore all knowledge about brains is FROM brains. Science! Researchers like me call this "brain bias." The best way to avoid Brain Bias is to use as little of one's brain as possible, which is best accomplished by drinking as often as is socially acceptable and doesn't get one fired from one's day job.

It's simple logic, folks.

[EarthFirst]

14. Well. We're all dying.

If occasional to moderate use increases my risk, that's life I suppose.

I figure I'm going when I'm going anyways...

[roomtomove]

15. I enjoy a glass of wine or two and

it does give me clarity and relaxes me in this world of Trump.
The study involved British subjects which tainted the study.

[GeorgeGist]

16. In rebuttal I offer ...

[Duppers]

22. Exactly! My first thought.

This gawdamn teetotaler.

Now, explain THIS, ye sacrosanct folks here bragging about not drinking.

I once lent an ear to a friend who had attempted suicide and had been hospitalized afterwards. Asked him if he'd "ever thought of getting high instead of trying to end it all?" *

The teetotaler (of cannabis and drink) said he "didn't believe in drugs!!!"


True story!

* Not that I expect using will solve problems but cannabis helped me get a better perspective when I was at the end of my rope decades ago.

[Danmel]

18. Given our current circumstances

I'll take my chances.

[Ferretherder]

19. Oh yeuh, wel awl I got to say iz...

...I drink a lot of wyne, almos evry niht, and it duznt seam to hav cawzed me iny problums. Hell, i theenk il go git anuthr glas..................

...i luv yoo guyz........

[Duppers]

23. ...

[GulfCoast66]

20. So I will reach the final line faster than teatotlers

C'est le vie.

[kwassa]

21. My teetotaling in-laws are dying young ...

FIL died at 73 from type 2 diabetes, lifestyle disease, MIL is falling apart at 77, looks twenty years older than she is.

My family, who likes a drink, I have in-laws alive and well at 96. Three of them.

[Duppers]

24. How do you define moderate?

This was a British study. And after having lived in England 3 yrs, I suspected the British definition of *moderate* was probably a bit different than an American's, so I read the article and found...

"...drinking moderately (14 to 21 units per week — about 5 to 7 beers or 6 to 8 glasses of wine)"

That's just a wee bit more than my definition of moderate. I'm an-every other-day, just-a-nip type of moderate.

Your mileage may differ.

[Sunlei]

25. I bet the daily use of USAs lead water is much worse for 'the brain'?

[Doug the Dem]

26. Nonshense!

I beer dinking fer 41 yearsh and I'm zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[appleannie1943]

27. At 73 my motto is, enjoy what is left of my life. No sense living longer if it is not fun.

So I will continue to sip on my nightly glass of wine.

[underpants]

28. You know there Norm....

[ThoughtProvoker]

30. Ugh, Booze

I'm a proud teetotaler. Alcoholic has ruined too many lives for me to get involved with it.

[Shell_Seas]

31. Wait, there are people that don't drink? Like at all?

[Tommy_Carcetti]

32. I'm sorry, what was this about again? nt

[defacto7]

33. Just think of all the brain damage I've accumulated

following the red wine routine espoused by health experts over the last 10 years. Who do I sue?

jjk.

[MosheFeingold]

34. Well, I'm in my 90s

And have pretty much followed the pattern of drinking Friday and Saturday about 3 glasses of wine each night. I scored perfectly on my dementia test (as in, no signs of decline) and passed my driver's test just fine (including the new night test).

I also just found work as a public defender to have something to do, which beats greeter at Wal-Mart.

Being Jewish, however, a bit of drinking is mandated by G-d (or at least for Shabbos), so maybe we get a pass.

[OnDoutside]

37. Superb, Moshe ! Congratulations, and continued good health !

[deurbano]

46. You're my inspiration!

[MGKrebs]

35. If God didn't want us to drink he shouldn't let those damn grapes ferment.

[deurbano]

44. Or turn water to wine.

[AngryAmish]

36. That is why I am not a moderate drinker.

I am a heavy drinker.

[deurbano]

43. That's the spirit(s)!

[ileus]

41. Glad I don't drink.

Or do any other drugs...or smoke...or chew or drink coffee....ect.


Never figured out how so many folks are rich enough to indulge in such activities.

[deurbano]

42. On a happier note... "New research shows that moderate alcohol consumption may be linked to improved

wellbeing, thanks to the improved social interaction associated with having a drink with friends at a local pub."

http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2017-01-06-your-health-benefits-social-drinking

So... just don't drink alone! In my "expert" opinion, the loss of brain cells is more than compensated for by the increase in happiness, but just to make sure, I'll be doing further research at my local pub.

[Jokerman]

45. Even moderate thinking could harsh my buzz. n/t

[Vinca]

47. Yesterday is was good, today it is bad, tomorrow it will be good again. Ignore it all.