Researchers from Oxford University said that the “safe dose of alcohol”, which would not affect the brain, does not exist. The use of any number of alcoholic beverages harms the central department of the human nervous system, transmits The Guardian.
Scientists have long argued about the effect of a moderate amount of alcohol on the human body, but all the conclusions made are ambiguous, notes the publication. Previous studies have shown that one glass of red wine per day can prevent diseases such as second type diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s disease and heart disease.
Moderate alcohol consumption “is often considered harmless to the health of the brain,” but this point of view is likely to be erroneous, the British scientists consider.
“There is no threshold at which the use of alcohol would not have the consequences – any alcohol in any amounts are harmful,” said Anya Topivala research from Oxford University, adding that alcohol strikes the whole brain, and not just separate parts As previously thought.
25,378 inhabitants of Great Britain took part in the study. Scientists analyzed data on each of them, paying attention to age, floor, education, alcohol consumption, brain size, and health status according to MRI, lifestyle, as well as bad habits like smoking.
The team of scientists revealed that the low density of the gray substance in the brain is associated with alcohol consumption. Also, due to the alcohol, the volume of gray substance in drinking participants in the study was significantly less. In fact, emphasize scientists, “The more you drink, the worse your brain works.”
Especially to the reduction in the volume of the gray substance were predisposed by people suffering from hypertension and having a high body mass index, specialists noted. According to them, such an impact on the central department of the human nervous system does not even have smoking.
Although alcohol negatively affects the brain, other studies have shown that its moderate number of beneficially affects other human body bodies, although the refusal to eat alcohol is recognized as a key way to avoid serious health problems, highlighted Topivala.
The gray substance is mainly focused on large hemispheres, cerebeller core and the deep structures of the brain. It is a cluster of nerve cells responsible for most of the functions of the highest nervous activity of a person. In particular, it performs the following neurophysical functions: perception, speech, thinking, memory, vision, emotions and attention.