Brain is quietly paying the price of drinking

A new study has found that drinking as few as eight alcoholic drinks a week could cause lasting damage to the brain. The damage could raise the risk of memory loss, cognitive decline, and even Alzheimer's disease (a progressive brain-shrinking disorder).

Published in the journal Neurology, the study revealed that people who drank heavily, defined as eight or more drinks per week, were more likely to develop brain lesions and neurodegenerative changes, both of which are strongly linked to dementia (a disorder characterised by loss of brain less leading to memory issues and cognitive decline).

Researchers studied the brain tissue of over 1,700 dead individuals, with an average age of 75, to identify signs of brain injury. These included lesions called hyaline arteriolosclerosis and protein tangles known as tau, a biomarker of Alzheimer’s disease. Information about participants' alcohol consumption was collected from their family members.

The findings were alarming. Those who drank heavily had a 133% higher risk of developing brain lesions compared to non-drinkers. Even people who had quit drinking still had an 89% higher risk of brain damage, while moderate drinkers showed a 60% increased risk.

They also found that individuals with a history of heavy drinking were more likely to develop Alzheimer's-linked brain changes and tended to die 13 years earlier than those who never drank. "We found heavy drinking is directly linked to signs of injury in the brain, and this can cause long-term effects on brain health, which may impact memory and thinking abilities," said study author Alberto Fernando Oliveira Justo.

Long-term heavy alcohol use can lead to serious conditions like Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, which causes severe memory problems and confusion.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also warns that binge-drinking four or more drinks in a sitting for women and five or more for men can put additional stress on the brain and body, and increase the risk of accidents. The World Health Organisation (WHO) cautioned people in 2023 that no level of alcohol was "safe."

A limitation of the study was that it did not look at participants before death and did not have information on the duration of alcohol consumption and cognitive abilities.