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Beer Medicine Science

Just One Drink Per Day Can Shrink Your Brain, Study Says (cnn.com) 125

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Just one pint of beer or average glass of wine a day may begin to shrink the overall volume of the brain, a new study has found, and the damage worsens as the number of daily drinks rises. On average, people at age 50 who drank a pint of beer or 6-ounce glass of wine (two alcohol units) a day in the last month had brains that appeared two years older than those who only drank a half of a beer (one unit), according to the study, which published Friday in the journal Nature. The brains of people that age who said they drank three alcohol units a day had reductions in both white and gray matter that looked as if they had added 3.5 years to the ages of their brains.

One alcohol unit is 10 milligrams or 8 grams of pure alcohol. That means 25 milligrams or a single shot of liquor is one unit; a 16-ounce can of beer or cider is two units; and a standard 6-ounce glass of wine (175 milligrams) is two units. The brains of nondrinkers who began consuming an average of one alcohol unit a day showed the equivalent of a half a year of aging, according to the study. In comparison, drinking four alcohol units a day aged a person's brain by more than 10 years.
"The report analyzed data from more than 36,000 people who took part in the UK Biobank study, which houses in-depth genetic and health information on more than 500,000 middle-aged adults living in the United Kingdom," report CNN.

"People in the study had provided information on the number of drinks they had each week in the previous year and had undergone an MRI brain scan. Researchers compared their scans with images of typical aging brains and then controlled for such variables as age, sex, smoking status, socioeconomic status, genetic ancestry and overall head size."
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Just One Drink Per Day Can Shrink Your Brain, Study Says

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  • Yeah, alcohol kills brain cells. But only the weak ones!

    • You see every drink of liquor you take kills a thousand brain cells. Now that doesn't much matter 'cos we got billions more. And first the sadness cells die so you smile real big. And then the quiet cells go so you just say everything real loud for no reason at all. That's ok because the stupid cells go next, so everything you say is real smart. And finally, come the memory cells. These are tough sons of bitches to kill.
  • If my brain shrinks in volume, yet the density of my intelligence continues to rise, added to the increasing pressure I feel, isn't that closer to violating the laws of physics? Isn't that what we want?
    • Perhaps, but the increased pressure only lasts until your next trip to the toilet. After that, your intelligence density would return to normal.

    • by sg_oneill ( 159032 ) on Saturday March 05, 2022 @11:13AM (#62328957)

      It'll peak. I'm 99% certain I'm stupider at 47 than I was at 37. I know a hell of a lot more stuff. My decisions are wiser. But figuring out thing? Takes a little longer. Oh well.

      • Same here. Lost my short-term memory and most of my IQ, and symptoms consistent with early onset dementia. I'm still a competent software developer, and I'd like to think I have wisdom and experience to partly offset the lack of raw brainpower. But some days I can't figure out how to dress myself or to cook recipes I've made a hundred times before or remember where I put my glasses, without which, of course, I can't find my glasses. It kind of sucks.

        I also sometimes call my wife on my cell, to ask her t

        • I dont think I'm quite at the "early onset of dementia" level. I'm just a bit slower to pick up new difficult concepts than I was at , say , 21.

          But, uh if you think your insomnia and drinking is potentially causing dementia, I would *seriously* implore you to reconsider, and go to a doc about it. Your no good to anyone if you get yourself to a stage where you cant work anymore or end up psychotic or worse.

          • I appreciate it. But I shouldn't ever become too much of a burden to my family. They know I want to be left to die if it ever comes to that, and they have no intention to burn through our limited savings just to keep me alive a little bit longer. My ability to earn income is the only reason they ever put up with me in the first place, so, once that is gone, likely, so am I.

            Also, I don't think it's a reversible process. Further damage can be slowed, but already-existing damage, not only to brain but als

  • It says there were several other factors they adjusted for, one of them being "socioeconomic status". Does being poor shrink your brain more or less than having a drinking habit?

    • by Osgeld ( 1900440 )

      I would wager people of lower "socioeconomic status" tend to binge drink over the weekend vs people of higher "socioeconomic status" may be drinking the same amount over the period of a week.

      Think of it as a firecracker vs a smoldering ember

      • by narcc ( 412956 )

        "I like beer. I don't know if you do. Do you like beer?"
        --Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

        • "I like beer. I don't know if you do. Do you like beer?" --Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

          This! Please mod parent up! There's also plenty of studies that have measured the decline on cognitive function from habitual alcohol consumption. It ain't pretty!

      • >I would wager people of lower "socioeconomic status" tend to binge drink over the weekend vs people of higher "socioeconomic status" may be drinking the same amount over the period of a week.

        I think one can assume that on average lower socio-economic status leads to more stress which leads to more aging of the brain along with the rest of the body https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n... [statcan.gc.ca]

        When the study on brain aging adjusted for socio-economic status they were in effect adjusting for all the other causes other

        • I lean pretty heavily right / libertarian, but I also grew up in, still live near, and have many friends and acquaintances still in, the inner city.

          It is sadly true, and well-documented, that in northeast Ohio, where I live, one's zip code, which highly correlates to both income and pigmentation levels, can add or remove about 10 years to/from one's lifespan.

          I imagine that's true in many urban areas in the U.S., and it's part of a complex set of overlapping and self-reinforcing pathologies that characterize

      • I'm in between. Upper-middle class income, but lower-middle-class lifestyle, because other people spend all of what I make and then some, leaving just barely enough to pay bills.

        I binge every night, but only just before bed, and only so I can sleep. If I try to stop, the 4 hours of sleep I might get turns into zero hours, and I can go *days* like that because I can't sleep without self-medicating. But what I can't do then is to drive or to work or to remember where the bathroom is or get dressed without

  • "Just one pint of beer or average glass of wine a day may begin to shrink the overall volume of the brain, a new study has found, and the damage worsens as the number of daily drinks rises."

    Thank goodness! I mainly stick to whiskey and gin.

  • Every god damn dead brain cell is worth it. Every god damned one!

  • I guess that explains Putin.

  • by Big Bipper ( 1120937 ) on Saturday March 05, 2022 @12:10AM (#62328265)
    Sooo, teenagers who drink enough begin to act like adults ?
  • by localroger ( 258128 ) on Saturday March 05, 2022 @12:19AM (#62328277) Homepage
    ...and where can I buy one? Because this smells like pseudoscientific horseshit. My understanding is that there is a fair amount of variance in brain volume between different people which is demonstrably unrelatable to anything like intelligence, skill, temperament, or age. It seems like there is already research (or should I say "research") money out there to fund anything that suggests alcohol == bad, just as there is for any form of sex == dangerous. Because there are a lot of people out there who just can't fucking stand it that you might be having more fun than they are.
    • I would like to see a similar study done with people who don't drink enough water.

      • by Whibla ( 210729 )

        I would like to see a similar study done with people who don't drink enough water.

        People who don't get (not drink) enough water die of dehydration.

        Perhaps you're referring to dietician dogma that we should drink 6 glasses of water a day? Yeah, that's a misunderstanding of a simplification of a study showing how much water is required to metabolise our recommended daily calorie intake. Since most foodstuffs already include water, and water 'adulterated' with coffee / tea / fruit sugars / etc. is still water, that 6 glasses / day figure is largely complete rubbish.

        Be prepared for a storm o

    • by dwywit ( 1109409 )

      I should either have microcephalus, or the brain of a 500-year-old.

      What's it to be?

    • I don't know. Why don't you ask a doctor who works with dementia patients?
    • >So what is this "years of aging" scanner and where can I buy one? Because this smells like pseudoscientific horseshit.

      The study's title hints at it:

      "Associations between alcohol consumption and gray and white matter volumes in the UK Biobank" https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]

      Sounds like brain scans and lots and lots correlational data:

      "Brain age can be estimated using different Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) modalities including diffusion MRI." https://www.nature.com/article... [nature.com]

      "An individual’s b

    • Because this smells like pseudoscientific horseshit.

      The difference between pseudoscientific horseshit and science is peer review and publishing.
      https://scholar.google.com/sch... [google.com]

  • Brain shrinks (Score:4, Informative)

    by ArhcAngel ( 247594 ) on Saturday March 05, 2022 @12:21AM (#62328281)
    It has long been known that the brain shrinks as you age. Not because your brain is dying but because as you learn the brain creates wrinkles as it defines what you've learned. The smaller the brain the more you know.
  • One alcohol unit is 10 milligrams or 8 grams of pure alcohol. That means 25 milligrams or a single shot of liquor is one unit; a 16-ounce can of beer or cider is two units; and a standard 6-ounce glass of wine (175 milligrams) is two units. The brains of nondrinkers who began consuming an average of one alcohol unit a day showed the equivalent of a half a year of aging, according to the study. In comparison, drinking four alcohol units a day aged a person's brain by more than 10 years.

    Can somebody help me understand this math?
    "One alcohol unit is 10 milligrams or 8 grams of pure alcohol."
    And 25 milligrams in a shot? How much you paying for that 25 milligrams?

    • Can somebody help me understand this math?
      "One alcohol unit is 10 milligrams or 8 grams of pure alcohol."
      And 25 milligrams in a shot? How much you paying for that 25 milligrams?

      I assume they meant milliliters, not milligrams, in which case it all clicks together. Alcohol is less dense than water, so it unsurprisingly has less mass per milliliter, hence their 10 milliliters = 8 grams statement. Likewise, 25 milliliters is fairly close to 1 fluid ounce, which is a typical “serving” of liquor in the US, so that too falls in line with expectations. And most liquors have somewhere in the vicinity of 30-40% alcohol by volume (ABV), which puts a 25 milliliter serving of liquo

      • Yes, they've mixed up milligrams and millilitres in the text. This is a UK study. In the UK, 10ml of alcohol is a "unit" - you'll see drinks labelled with the number of units, and it's just the ml of alcohol divided by 10. Supposedly one unit is about "1 drink" i.e. a shot of spirits, glass of wine or half pint of beer, though actually that's only the case for fairly weak wines and beers (and small glasses).
        Spirits and wine are sold in metric measures in the UK - a "single" of spirits is 25ml (doubles are 5

    • This whole "study" is so fucked up it's ridiculous, like a treatise on the dangers of sex written by fourth graders who haven't reached puberty. Beers vary in alcohol content (who knew?) but typical 16-oz beers are around 20 grams or 1.3 standard drinks. Wines also vary in alcohol content (who knew?) but typical 6-oz servings are around 1 standard drink. The fact that these clowns don't even seem to have any grounding in the units they are using to measure their causative function compounds the impressio
      • You sound like you had too much to drink. Over your whole life.
        • You're really championing the advantages of teetotaling there. Keep it up and, well, it won't change anything but it will probably make you feel better.
          • That's like the lamest attempt at a comeback ever. Yeah - I'm championing not drinking alcohol. You say that as if doing something because everyone else does it is somehow the respectable, default position.

            It doesn't make me feel better. I DO feel better. It comes from not suffering the after effects of drinking alcohol and forcing myself to pretend that means I had a "good time".
            • by dwywit ( 1109409 )

              Oh, good for you. Well done. Hoo-rah.

            • Yeah - I'm championing not drinking alcohol. You say that as if doing something because everyone else does it is somehow the respectable, default position.

              You say that as if you are a bit pompous and holier than thou. Is that what makes you Evil? You do know that not doing something just because everyone else is, is not the 'respectable, default position' either? And that puritanical abstinence is an inferior moral position, as it tries to inflict your opinion on others.

              It doesn't make me feel better. I DO feel better. It comes from not suffering the after effects of drinking alcohol and forcing myself to pretend that means I had a "good time".

              Suffering what after effects? This study aside, drinking a beer or two does not inflict the suffering of after effects. Or are you suggesting that its either none or too much? There is no poss

              • Is that what makes you Evil?

                Yes, actually. One of the many reasons I chose this username is because there's this perception that if you're an atheist, then you must support all manner of drug taking and such as a way to stick it to the religions. I'm "Evil" because I don't think being atheist means having to do everything the opposite of religions, such as having ethical and moral standards.

                You do know that not doing something just because everyone else is

                But it's not. Teetotalling is not following any crowd. The crowd has always been the alcohol drinkers. Nice attempt to try to flip the argument, b

                • You assume that other atheists support drug taking as a way to stick it to the religions, but speaking for myself, religions are the furthest thing from my mind. You are the one who's reactions are led by religion, like you want to compare favourably with religions on their terms. I couldn't give a shit what religions (or atheists) think about my drinking.

                  Perhaps this is cultural - assuming you are from the USA you are probably stuck in a much more religion led society than me. Where I come from religion ha

            • When your immediate response to someone criticizing the sloppy science in your propaganda-laced pseudo-study is "you must have a problem," you should realize you're putting the spotlight on yourself. "Everyone else" doesn't drink, and not everyone who does drinks to excess. That is a fact. I am equally critical of the lies and pseudoscience behind the war on drugs, and I've tried marijuana exactly once and that was forty years ago and I found it unappealing. But I don't feel the need to get in other peo
      • This article is from the UK, so a pint is 20 fl. oz., not 16. I have a feeling the Imperial fl. oz. is also a slightly different size to the American one. But it means the Imperial pint is 568ml, which is much bigger than the tiny American ones.

    • by quenda ( 644621 )

      Can somebody help me understand this math?
      "One alcohol unit is 10 milligrams or 8 grams of pure alcohol."

      It is well know that journalists are heavy drinkers. Whoever wrote that article clearly has a shrunken brain.

      In the UK, one standard unit is 10 millilitres or 8g.
      In Australia, a standard drink is a slightly more generous 10 grams. In the US, where everything is upsized it is 14 grams, while a standard unit of alcohol in Russia is one bottle, or 300g pure ethanol, ever since Stalin's personal physician limited him to one drink per day.

    • Vodka, Rum, etc. most spirits run about 40% alcohol by volume (ABV)
      Beer runs between 3% to 7% ABV (with some 12% but not common)
      White wine averages 10% ABV.
      Red wine averages 13% ABV.

      There are 29 milliliters (ml) per ounce (oz.)

      So if you have 16oz can of beer, that's 16*29*3% = 12 mil to 16*29*7% = 32 ml.
      A 1 oz shot of vodka would be 29*40% = 11.9 ml
      A mixed drink would be about 33 ml.
      A 6 oz glass of white wine would be 6*2.9 = 17.8 ml.
      A 6 oz glass of red wine would be 6*29*13% = 22.6ml.

      A shot of Grain Alcoho

      • by MrKaos ( 858439 )

        Once again, there is a clear monotonic association between childhood intelligence and the quantity of adult alcohol consumption.

        They work out that most of the people around them are assholes and the only way to stand them is to drink so that you don't give a fuck about the shitty things that they do or say or be alone because there is no way you can stand them when you are sober.

        If I had to guess.

  • This just in! Consuming 7 units of alcohol—approximately equivalent to 1 standard 16mL beer or 2.4 units of alcohol—makes unit math hard.
  • All those spammy "Find Your Brain Age" apps which are all over the iOS and Google app stores.

    • by gweihir ( 88907 )

      All those spammy "Find Your Brain Age" apps which are all over the iOS and Google app stores.

      Yep. That looks like the critical piece of validation information here.

  • According to this, my brain is now about 350 years old. After the weekend, make that 351.

  • You drink and your brain shrinks. Your brain shrinks and you drink more.

  • You can tell a good beer with just one sip, but it is best to be sure...
  • By my estimation my brain should be rattling around like a marble in a salad bowl.

  • Why would a deadly poison used to preserve animal specimens have any effect on the size of the brain when consumed?
  • Obviously, being too smart is a real disadvantage these days. You do not fit in, you see things going horribly wrong that nobody else wants to see, you are overqualified, etc. So I say, drink up!

  • Higher levels of alcohol consumption are associated with higher intelligence levels in UK and US.

    https://www.psychologytoday.co... [psychologytoday.com]

    "It [the hypothesis] does not predict that more intelligent individuals are more likely to engage in healthy and beneficial behavior. Instead, it predicts that more intelligent individuals are more likely to engage in evolutionarily novel behavior. Since the consumption of modern alcoholic beveragesâ"including binge drinking and getting drunkâ"is evolutionarily novel, t

    • by splutty ( 43475 )

      More intelligent people have more stressful jobs, and are more stressed in general, thus drink more.

      Seems a logical explanation.

  • Meanwhile Asian parents are starting their kids on alcohol to gain an edge in school exams via 2 yr older brains...

  • Just One Drink Per Day Can Shrink Your Brain, Study Says.

    But It can enlarge balls. I say.
  • appeared two years older than those who only drank a half of a beer

    So they couldn't find enough people who didn't drink at all?

    I'd like to see that control group, not a comparison of moderate drinkers vs. slightly less moderate drinkers.

    • appeared two years older than those who only drank a half of a beer

      So they couldn't find enough people who didn't drink at all?

      The non drinkers all committed suicide long ago.

  • You're supposed to drink at least 2 liters every day - a pint isn't even a quarter of that...

    It's no wonder that brain shrinkage is occurring.

    • by Whibla ( 210729 )

      While I suspect the intent of your post is humour...

      You're supposed to drink at least 2 liters every day...

      No, you're not - though "drink 6 glasses of water a day" has certainly become dogma in the last couple of decades or so, with the growth of the 'nutritionist' industry.
      By the way, 6 glasses, at 250ml / per glass, is only 1.5 litres, which was the original number. The figure actually comes from the amount of water required to biologically 'digest' the recommended daily calorie intake, as arrived at mid-last century. This 'advice' was then simplified and con

      • While I suspect the intent of your post is humour...

        You're supposed to drink at least 2 liters every day...

        No, you're not - though "drink 6 glasses of water a day" has certainly become dogma in the last couple of decades or so, with the growth of the 'nutritionist' industry.

        The amount of water to drink is like all things dependent on the person. I drink a good bit of water, because it is a regulator of the "exhaust" system.

        In fact, assuming there are no physical problems, a person can use their regularity as a guide to how much water they should be imbibing.

      • by Briareos ( 21163 )

        Eh... had I gone with the first result for "recommended drink volume per day" off Google it'd be even higher:

        The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine determined that an adequate daily fluid intake is: About 15.5 cups (3.7 liters) of fluids a day for men. About 11.5 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day for women.

        -- Water: How much should you drink every day? - Mayo Clinic [mayoclinic.org]

        Personally, I drink water or watered juice whenever I'm thirsty, plus some extra, plus 2 cups of coffee a day... and

  • (Every Centenarian Ever) "What's my secret. Oh, I dunno...walk every day, get good sleep...oh and I have a shot of whiskey every day."

    Genetics is mostly why you'll live longer. Alcohol merely helps you want to.

    Regarding Bob Hope:

    "When he was 96 years old, he walked two miles to the local pub every day to get a drink," he told the Weekly World News in 1981, according to Men's Health. "He died within a month of his 100th birthday, and he remained mentally sharp till the very end." The comedian managed to live slightly longer than his grandfather, passing away on July 27, 2003, at the age of 100.

    • (Every Centenarian Ever) "What's my secret. Oh, I dunno...walk every day, get good sleep...oh and I have a shot of whiskey every day."

      Genetics is mostly why you'll live longer. Alcohol merely helps you want to.

      Regarding Bob Hope:

      "When he was 96 years old, he walked two miles to the local pub every day to get a drink," he told the Weekly World News in 1981, according to Men's Health. "He died within a month of his 100th birthday, and he remained mentally sharp till the very end." The comedian managed to live slightly longer than his grandfather, passing away on July 27, 2003, at the age of 100.

      Bob Hope himself wasn't all that sharp when he passed. But your first statement is the important one.

      Genetics. Genetics is the bus driver in longevity, not avoiding whatever some wags think you need to avoid. After my father passed at 85, after living a life that included drink and smoking, but not to excess, I did some research. I came up with 85.

      Males on my father's side of the family all lived to around 85 years, barring accidents or death in war. And almost all were healthy right up to around a yea

      • Regarding Bob Hope:

        "When he was 96 years old, he walked two miles to the local pub every day to get a drink," he told the Weekly World News in 1981, according to Men's Health. "He died within a month of his 100th birthday, and he remained mentally sharp till the very end." The comedian managed to live slightly longer than his grandfather, passing away on July 27, 2003, at the age of 100.

        Bob Hope himself wasn't all that sharp when he passed...

        Well, this might be the weakest request for "citations please", but since it's about the only thing we disagree on, I'd like to see the evidence that conflicts with the statement I ran across. Just for the sake of truth.

  • I'm just drinking until I become a genius.

    • by AvitarX ( 172628 )

      I am still trying to figure out what they meant.

      But I think they kept calling millilitres milligrams.

      So they're saying it's 10ml or 8g (not quite sure the density of alcohol, but I know it's lower than water).

      It sounds like a shot wherever this study was done is smaller than the small nonsense they try to pass off at bars here, 25ml isn't even an fl oz.

  • People with shrinking brain will drink at least a glass of alcohol a day.

    Everyone thinks Americans are good in marketing and sales. But they can't hold a candle to the French. They managed to convince the whole world their spoiled grape juice and rotten milk as super high quality gourmet food. Bah.. humbug.

  • My grandfather drank a glass of whine almost every day and lived to be 100, and he was mentality fine when he passed. Sounds like the study is either full of it, or they're blowing things way out of proportion.

    • My grandfather drank a glass of whine almost every day and lived to be 100, and he was mentality fine when he passed. Sounds like the study is either full of it, or they're blowing things way out of proportion.

      As were both of my parents, who didn't make it that far (mid 80's), and enjoyed their whiskey and beer. And both were mentally quite fit. I did financial work with my father 12 hours before he passed, and it was just like doing it with any other intelligent person.

      Studies. They always start from somewhere. Sounds like this one started from a place of trying to suggest a return to prohibition days. Whe the US turned almost everyone into criminals, and the prohibitionists turned organized crime into what

  • Alcohol is a terrible drug, there are much better options.

  • Who wants to live to be 120? If drinking, eating and living my life as i please means I might not get to be 120, why should I care? In fact Iâ(TM)d say a life measured by longevity and how âoesafeâ you lived is no life at all, but a prison sentence
  • To confound milligrams for millilitres (UK) the author/editor may be knurd -- below optimum alcohol level in blood/brain.

    And who says smaller brains are somehow bad? There are a number of hypertrophic pathologies. Brains naturally shrink with age.

  • I've heard this before, but no one says what we should make of it. It seems the implication is that our brain shrinking is bad, but has anyone actually looked at the effect of the brain shrinking?
  • Partly because the Blue Zones seem to provide contrary evidence, partly because one study NEVER proves anything, and partly because I'm not convinced they've got a properly controlled study here.

    (If you simply tot up the units of alcohol, you're ignoring every other chemical in the drink - and alcoholic drinks will contain many. You're also ignoring the interaction between alcohol and anything else. You either need a gigantic study in order to establish a proper random sample, or you need to perform statist

  • I'm seeing a trend where a certain class of reporting uses (and frequently MISuses) metric units to sound more "scary" or to obfuscate the actual results. This article is one of them. I also assume they mixed up "millilitres" and "milligrams" but there's also references to "pints" and "shots." This seems to be a UK study, and the UK pint is different from the American pint. This is WHY we have the metric system, to avoid such confusion! If I were being charitable, I'd say the CNN journalists were trying (b

  • Just throwing the idea out here and maybe it was already fully accounted for in the studies... But drinking alcohol causes dehydration as your body uses a lot of water to eliminate it.

    I'd question if the drinkers in the study drank enough water, or if the claimed brain shrinkage is just the temporary result of not doing so?

  • Sorry, fellow drinkers, but this really does sound plausible.

    There is no physiological benefit to drinking alcohol.

    In some contexts, there may be psychological benefits. You loosen up, get the courage to buy the girl a drink, she becomes your wife and you live happily ever after.

    Also some chemicals in wine, such as reservatrol, that likely have health benefits too.

    But any alcohol damages your body, and more alcohol damages it more.

    I say this as guy who downs a few cups of vodka every night, plus sometimes

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