Even moderate alcohol consumption may have adverse effects on brain health, finds study

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. While binge drinkers and individuals with high blood pressure and BMI may be more susceptible, the study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, found “no safe dose of alcohol for the brain.” Scientists, including Anya Topiwala from the University of Oxford, assessed the health profiles of 25,378 individuals from the UK Biobank – a database designed to help researchers understand the link diseases have with genetic and environmental factors. The results revealed that a higher quantity of weekly alcohol consumption was associated with lower brain grey matter density even after accounting for individual differences in biological and behavioural traits among the participants. According to the researchers, higher volume of alcohol consumption per week as well as binge drinking could have additive effects throughout the brain irrespective of the type of beverage consumed. While an official guideline issued by UK’s Department of Health in 2016 urges people to not consume more than 14 units of alcohol a week – which is close to five pints of beer at 5 per cent ABV strength – the scientists behind the current study say this measure needs to be revised, incorporating the recent findings.