Last study: Any amount of alcohol consumption is harmful to the brain

There is no proper use for alcohol consumption to prevent harming the brain. Even the drinking of '%s' has a negative effect on each part, according to a recent study of more than 25,000 people in the UK.

There is no threshold for alcohol to drink to avoid damaging the brain -- any amount is harmful. Almost all the brain seems to be affected - not just specific areas, as previously thought,”- said lead author Anya Topiwala, an old clinical lecturer at Oxford University.

Using the United Kingdom Biobank, a considerable database designed to help researchers decipher genetic and environmental factors that lead some people to develop diseases, while others did not, researchers analyzed data from 25,378 participants such as age, sex, education, alcohol consumption, brain size, and health.

The highest volume of alcohol consumption per week was accompanied by the lowest density of gray matter, researchers discovered, which explains a change of 0.8% of the volume of gray matter.

That may seem like a small figure, but it is a greater contribution than any other factor. For example, there is fourfold of the damage smoking causes, Topihala said.

Despite earlier research suggesting that moderate drinking of wine is beneficial, compared with beer or alcoholic beverages, the study found no evidence suggesting that the type of alcoholic beverages makes changes in the risks to the brain.

In the big scheme of things, these effects seem small, although it is difficult to talk about alcohol's impact on other health outcomes, such as cancer risks, without further research, to understand how alcohol and brain health are fed through more tangible results, such as madness or Alzheimer's. ”

In 2016, the Department of Health introduced new instruction on alcohol in the UK, recommending that men and women drink no more than 14 small alcoholic units each week.