A new alarming study by American scientists has revealed that excessive and regular can significantly increase the risk of fatal brain hemorrhages in individuals aged 60 and older.
The researchers identified a critical threshold that brings older adults dangerously close to : consuming three or more alcoholic drinks per day.
To put this into perspective, a standard drink, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), contains 12 milliliters of pure ethanol. This is equivalent to 250 ml of beer or 150 ml of dry wine.
The researchers analyzed data from 1,600 individuals, with an average age of 75, who had experienced an intracerebral hemorrhage. Among them, 104 met the criteria for alcohol abuse, defined as regularly consuming three or more drinks per day, as reported by Daily Mail. Participants underwent a series of brain scans that assessed the severity of their strokes and signs of long-term damage.
The scientists found that individuals who abused alcohol experienced strokes with severe bleeding 11 years earlier than those who did not. Daily drinkers exhibited significantly larger hemorrhages. These individuals were twice as likely to suffer from deep brain hemorrhages and were more prone to developing small vessel disease—a type of long-term brain damage.
On average, strokes occurred around the age of 64 for those who abused alcohol, while those who did not experienced strokes much later, at around 75. The brain hemorrhages in alcohol abusers were considerably more severe and approximately 70 percent larger than those in other patients.
Lead researcher Edip Gurol, a stroke specialist at Harvard University, noted, “Previous studies have linked excessive alcohol consumption to an increased risk of stroke, but our findings demonstrate that it not only exacerbates the severity of bleeding during a stroke but also causes long-term damage to small brain vessels.”
According to the study, individuals who abused alcohol were three times more likely to show serious signs of white matter damage in the brain due to small vessel disease, reflecting chronic damage caused by high blood pressure. White matter damage is also associated with dementia, particularly vascular dementia.
Commenting on the study’s findings, Dr. Gurol remarked, “Reducing alcohol consumption not only lowers the risk of bleeding strokes but also slows the progression of small vessel disease in the brain, which, in turn, may reduce the risk of recurrent strokes.”
The conclusions of the study were published in the journal Neurology.
What You Should Know
Recently, a team of researchers from Oxford, Yale, and Cambridge universities demonstrated that no amount of alcohol is safe concerning the risk of developing . The results, published in the journal BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine, confirmed that even small amounts of alcohol can damage the brain, increasing the likelihood of cognitive decline.
Despite these warnings from scientists, the myth of safe alcohol consumption levels persists. The National Health Service of the United Kingdom recommends limiting alcohol intake to 14 units per week. However, according to expert data, the average person consumes about 18 units of alcohol weekly.
According to WHO estimates, approximately three million people worldwide die each year due to alcohol-related causes.
Photo: Openverse
