UK: Skipping last drink of day could boost brain health, claims study

A recent study revealed that skipping the last drink of the night might significantly boost brain health. According to the study which included over 36,000 participants, the adverse consequences of alcohol intake become worse with each successive drink. The study's findings, published in 'Nature Communications' suggested that individuals who consume several units per day stand to benefit the most by lowering their consumption, The Guardian reported.  

The study further discovered that the more an individual consumes alcohol, the smaller their brain becomes and the white matter of the brain becomes less connected. Even moderate consumption - just a few glasses of wine per week - seemed to pose a danger. 

Dr Remi Daviet, the study's first author and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stated, “There is some evidence that the effect of drinking on the brain is exponential. So, one additional drink in a day could have more of an impact than any of the previous drinks that day. That means that cutting back on that final drink of the night might have a big effect in terms of brain ageing,” Independent reported.  

Findings of the UK study 

The current study analysed MRI scans from over 36,000 individuals in the United Kingdom Biobank, and this massive magnitude of this group allowed the connection between drinking and brain health to be explored in more depth. 

Furthermore, the study builds on prior research that found a relationship between alcohol consumption and brain health. However, it was uncertain whether moderate alcohol consumption had an effect; in fact, some researchers have suggested that mild drinking could be advantageous. Although there is no entirely safe amount of drinking, the NHS recommends not exceeding 14 units per week on a regular basis, The Guardian reported.  

The UK study even found a detrimental correlation between even one drink per day and brain capacity, with the link becoming stronger as the amount of alcohol consumed increased. 

According to The Guardian, in 50-year-olds, increasing daily alcohol consumption from one unit (or half a pint of beer) to two units (a pint of beer or a glass of wine) has been linked to brain alterations comparable to two years of ageing. At the same age bracket, increasing from two to three alcohol units was the equivalent of three and a half years.  

There are, however, compelling reasons to believe that alcohol has a deleterious influence on the brain. According to Wetherill, alcohol intoxication triggers pro-inflammatory enzymes in the brain, which might result in the loss of grey matter and a disruption in the formation of white matter connections in the brain. 

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