Less than a pint a day means you’re ‘THREE TIMES more likely to develop early signs of Alzheimer’s’
DRINKING just six pints a week puts you at increased risk of dementia, a new study today warns.
Boozing, even at moderate levels, harms the brain, scientists found.
It means those who drink more than the recommended 14 units a week could be damaging their memory.
Fourteen units is the equivalent of six pints a week, or six medium glasses of wine.
The authors of the light boozing actually causes hippocampal atrophy - a form of brain damage that affects memory - and early marker for Alzheimer's disease.
And moderate drinkers were three times more likely to suffer the brain damage, compared to those who abstain from booze.
Last year, the Government lowered its recommended weekly booze guidelines.
Whereas previously they advised men drink no more than 21 units a week, and women stick to 14, now 14 is the limited for both sexes.
The changes to account for the links between alcohol and cancer.
But the authors of the new study, published in the BMJ said their findings support the changes.
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"Our findings support the recent reduction in UK safe limits and call into question the current US guidelines, which suggest that up to 24.5 units a week is safe for men.
"We found increased odds of hippocampal atrophy at just 14 to 21 units a week."
Scientists are agreed, heavy drinking is bad for the brain.
But few studies have looked at the effects of moderate boozing - 14 to 21 units a week.
So a team from the University of Oxford and University College London focused their efforts at moderate drinking and the impact it has on a person's brain.
They found cutting right back on the booze, and drinking up to just six units a week had no protective effect.
The results are encouraging since they suggest that reducing alcohol consumption today could prevent or delay the onset of diseases linked to hippocampal atrophy, such as Alzheimer’s
Dr Jennifer Wild
Brain scans showed people who drank high levels of alcohol were more likely to have reduced white matter in the brain.
Dr Jennifer Wild, from the University of Oxford, said: "Medical science is under pressure to find modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline since dementia will be a global epidemic by 2050.
"The authors have discovered a robust link between what most people would consider normal levels of alcohol consumption and later degeneration of core brain regions linked to memory function.
"The results are encouraging since they suggest that reducing alcohol consumption today could prevent or delay the onset of diseases linked to hippocampal atrophy, such as Alzheimer's.
"But the study needs to be replicated and, importantly, with women.
"Most of the sample in this study were men."
Dr Doug Brown, from the Alzheimer's Society, added: "There's no need to fret about whether to abstain from alcohol altogether as long as you stay within the new recommended guidelines.
"Further research is needed to better understand whether there is any relationship between light or moderate alcohol consumption, damage to the brain and a person's risk of developing dementia.
"If you are worried about you or someone else, speak to your GP."
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