Consuming even a small amount of alcohol may have negative effects on the brain, particularly the hippocampus, British researchers say today.
Alcohol has historically been viewed as harmless in moderation – defined from around nine to 18 units a week – say Dr Anya Topiwala and colleagues at Oxford University, UK.
Writing in today’s (7 June) BMJ, the team say: "The long term effects of non-dependent alcohol consumption on the brain are poorly understood."
They investigated the impact on brain structure and function in a 30-year study of 550 men and women in which alcohol intake and cognitive performance measured repeatedly, and brain scans were carried out at the end.
This showed that higher alcohol consumption was linked to increased risk of hippocampal atrophy "in a dose dependent fashion". So those consuming over 30 units a week were at the highest risk compared with abstainers, but even those drinking 14 to 21 units a week had three times the risk to abstainers.
The authors add: "There was no protective effect of light drinking (one to six units per week) over abstinence."
They also found changes in corpus callosum microstructure and a faster decline in lexical fluency among those who drank more alcohol. But there were no links to general cognitive performance or semantic fluency or word recall."
In conclusion, they write: "These results support the recent reduction in alcohol guidance in the UK and question the current limits recommended in the US."
Commenting in an editorial, Dr Killian Welch of the Royal Edinburgh Hospital, UK, "Topiwala and colleagues’ findings strengthen the argument that drinking habits many regard as normal have adverse consequences for health. With publication of this paper, justification of ‘moderate’ drinking on the grounds of brain health becomes a little harder."
Topiwala, A. et al. Moderate alcohol consumption as risk factor for adverse brain outcomes and cognitive decline: longitudinal cohort study. BMJ 7 June 2917 doi: 10.1136/bmj.j2353 [abstract]
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