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Scientists have named another reason not to abuse alcohol
Scientists have named another reason not to abuse alcohol
Anonim

Alcoholic drinks do not spare your brain and can lead to dementia.

Scientists have named another reason not to abuse alcohol
Scientists have named another reason not to abuse alcohol

Alcohol increases the risk of dementia

According to a recent study, most of the early cases of dementia (before age 65) are associated with excessive alcohol consumption. Scientists analyzed the rates of more than a million dementia patients who were treated from 2008 to 2013. It turned out that more than a third of 57,000 cases of early dementia are directly related to alcohol.

Alcohol abuse triples the risk of all types of dementia.

Alcohol is the top 30 risk factor that can be eliminated. It has a direct neurotoxic effect, and is also closely related to other removable factors: smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, low educational level. From this, the overall harm from alcohol increases even more.

Researchers are proposing to broaden the scope of what is considered abuse. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now defines it as 15 drinks per week for men and 8 drinks per week for women. By their own definition, one serving is 17 ml of pure alcohol. If we translate this into popular drinks, we get 350 ml of beer, 147 ml of wine, 44 ml of spirits (vodka, whiskey, gin, rum).

What happens to the brain

“Drinking alcohol impairs cognition,” said psychiatrist Joseph Garbely. - Alcohol impairs the ability to encode new memories, memory gaps appear. And since it affects the higher executive functions of the brain, the negative effect is much more pronounced in the elderly."

Numerous neuroimaging studies confirm that alcohol consumption is directly related to brain damage. Alcohol also affects the prefrontal cortex. Addiction begins to develop, alcohol consumption gradually increases. And this further undermines the ability to make decisions.

Finally

However, there is still no confirmation that alcohol abuse triggers Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia.

There are no unambiguous data on the effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the development of dementia. According to some studies, one to two servings of alcohol a day are beneficial for the cardiovascular system and for the brain. He needs an influx of fresh blood and oxygen.

It is also not yet known whether moderate drinking is harmful to those who already have dementia. In any case, it is much more difficult to dissuade the patient from drinking alcohol. After all, with dementia, not only memory is lost, but also the ability to make decisions and assess the situation.

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