The study of Oxford University where The Guardian writes about it, was carried out among 25,000 Britons. This shows that even moderate drinking is bad for the brain. And that has never been investigated in this way before.
At first sight, the study is promising, says Carmen Voogt of the Alcohol Expertise Center of the Trimbos Institute to RTL Nieuws. “Peers still have to look at it critically, it has not yet been published in a scientific journal. But it looks reliable, we have to keep a close eye on this study.”
Grey dust
The results show that alcohol consumption has an effect on the structure of the brain. It affects the quality of the so-called ‘gray matter’ in the brain, which has the function of processing information. “The more alcohol you drink per week, the smaller the volume of that gray matter becomes,” says Voogt.
Alcohol also appears to affect the ‘white matter’ of the brain. It contains the offshoots of nerve cells, and is in fact ‘the wiring’ of the brain. Voogt: “If the quality thereof decreases, you will function cognitively worse.”
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Earlier studies already showed that excessive drinking causes health damage. “But this study says clearly: a negative effect can already be seen with moderate alcohol consumption.”
And it doesn’t seem to matter which drink you drink, says Voogt. No evidence was found in this study that drinking red wine, for example, has health benefits compared to beer or spirits. “That is still a misconception among many people: that red wine, for example, is healthier.”
Reversible?
And what if you stop drinking completely now, while you always have, is the damage reversible? “Actually that is very difficult to say”, says Voogt.
“If you quit smoking, for example, the risk of lung cancer decreases. But brain research in relation to alcohol is still in its infancy. We are not that far yet.”
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The guidelines of the Health Council are: do not drink or drink a maximum of 1 glass of alcohol per day. Incidentally, the guidelines in the Netherlands are different from those in the United Kingdom: in the Netherlands 1 standard glass consists of 10 grams of ethanol, in the UK this is 8 grams.
Heavy drinker
Almost 8 out of 10 Dutch people aged 18 and older sometimes drink alcohol, according to figures from last year, according to the Trimbos Institute. 44.4 percent of the adult population adheres to the advice of the Health Council and drinks little or no alcohol. Almost 7 percent of adults drink excessively and 7.7 percent are heavy drinkers.
You drink excessively if you drink more than 14 glasses a week as a woman and more than 21 as a man.
As a woman you are a heavy drinker if you drink at least four glasses in one day at least once a week, and as a man at least six. Last year men drank ‘excessively’ and ‘heavily’ much more often than women.
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In response to the National Prevention Agreement, the government has taken measures to combat alcohol consumption. The goal for 2040 is:
- young people and pregnant women no longer drink alcohol;
- the number of adult Dutch people who drink too much will drop to a maximum of 5 percent (is now 8.8 percent).
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