Having just over one glass of wine every night can put you at a higher risk of developing a disturbing brain condition, a new study has revealed.
Researchers from the University of Sao Paulo Medical School in Brazil looked at brain autopsies from 1,781 deceased people and gathered information on their drinking patterns from family members.
After adjusting for factors that could affect brain health such as age at death, smoking and physical activity, the heavy drinkers – those who drank eight or more glasses of wine a week – had 133 percent higher odds of having brain lesions compared to those who never drank.
These lesions, called hyaline arteriolosclerosis, cause the small blood vessels in the brain to narrow and stiffen.
This cuts off blood flow and damages tissues in the brain over time, leading to cognitive impairment and dementia, which affects 16 million and 7 million Americans respectively.
Researchers also found heavy drinkers had higher odds of developing toxic protein tangles, a biomarker associated with Alzheimer’s disease, with 41 percent higher odds.
And shockingly, heavy drinkers died an average of 13 years earlier than those who never drank.
One drink was defined as having 14 grams of pure alcohol, the same amount that’s in 12 fl oz of beer, five fl oz wine or 1.5 fl oz of distilled spirits like rum or vodka.
Having just over one glass of wine per night can put you at a higher risk of developing a disturbing brain condition, a new study has revealed
The study, published in the journal Neurology, included 965 people who never drank, 319 moderate drinkers who had seven or fewer drinks per week; 129 heavy drinkers who had eight or more drinks per week; and 368 former heavy drinkers.
Patients died on average at age 75. All underwent autopsies of their brains.
Though binge drinking had the most detrimental effects, even drinking less alcohol was shown to have lasting consequences.
Former heavy drinkers were found to have 89 percent higher odds of developing brain legions compared to teetotalers and moderate drinkers were at a 60 percent higher risk.
Commenting on the findings, study author Alberto Fernando Oliveira Justo said: ‘Heavy alcohol consumption is a major global health concern linked to increased health problems and death.
‘We looked at how alcohol affects the brain as people get older.
‘Our research shows that heavy alcohol consumption is damaging to the brain, which can lead to memory and thinking problems.’
Justo said understanding these effects of alcohol is crucial for public health awareness and ‘continuing to implement preventive measures to reduce heavy drinking.’
The World Health Organization warns that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health and it is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the US, behind tobacco.
Alcohol use contributes to nearly 100,000 cancer cases and about 20,000 deaths each year.
Research over the past four decades has revealed a ‘causal relationship’ between alcohol use and increased risk for at least seven different types of cancer, including of the breast, colon, liver and throat.
In terms of how alcohol causes cancer, an advisory from the US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy says there are ‘four distinct ways’ that it works inside the body.
First, alcohol breaks down into acetaldehyde once it is consumed. Acetaldehyde is a substance that causes cancer by binding to DNA and damaging it.
When DNA is damaged, a cell can begin to grow uncontrollably and create a cancerous tumor.
Second, alcohol generates ‘reactive oxygen species, which increase inflammation and can damage DNA, proteins, and lipids in the body through a process called oxidation’.
Thirdly, alcohol alters hormone levels (including estrogen), which the experts say can play a role in the development of breast cancer.
And lastly, carcinogens from other sources, especially particles of tobacco smoke, can dissolve in alcohol, making it easier for them to be absorbed into the body, increasing the risk for mouth and throat cancers.
The current US Dietary Guidelines recommend that American men should consume no more than two alcoholic drinks a day and women should consume no more than one alcoholic beverage per day.
For decades, studies suggested that there was some benefit to drinking moderate amounts of alcohol.
But in recent years, research has swung the other way.
The new Dietary Guidelines will be published in 2026 and it is believed that Americans could soon be urged to drink no more than two bottles of beer or glasses of wine per week.
The guidelines will eventually be signed off on by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
More than 60million Americans report binge drinking at least once a year, and on average Americans who drink alcohol say they consume about drinks per week.
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism reports that rates of binge drinking among people ages 18 to 25 are decreasing but remain high (28.7 percent in 2023).
According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health of full-time college students ages 18 to 22, 46.3 percent drank alcohol and 27.9 percent engaged in binge drinking in the past month.
Justo’s team noted that a limitation of their study was that it did not look at participants before death and they did not have information on the duration of alcohol consumption and a ranking of their cognitive abilities.