In a recent study of the general public, researchers found that excessive drinking caused brain damage and affected the individual’s ability to perform normal tasks.
Dieter Meyerhoff, an associate professor of radiology at the University of California San Francisco, and Peter Martin, a professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, examined 46 heavy drinkers and 52 light drinkers between the ages of 21 and 56.
In order to be classified as a heavy drinker, the individual in the study had to drink on average more than 100 alcoholic drinks a month for men and 80 for women over the past 3 years.
Through magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the researchers examined different regions of the brain and searched for any chemical abnormalities.
“This research is fundamentally different from previous stages of research on the effect of chronic alcohol consumption on the brain,” Meyerhoff said in an email. “It moves away from describing the endpoints of a disease that has devastating effects on individuals and affects their families and society as a whole and moves toward a better understanding of the disease process.”
Before their study, Martin said only people who were undergoing treatment for alcoholism were examined for brain damage.
“[We’re] looking at changes that may occur prior to patients being sick enough to be hospitalized,” Martin said. “If you take this to mean that these are people who are earlier in the course of their alcoholism, then it becomes very valuable.”
According to their study, the amount of binge drinking the person participated in, their age and family history determined the magnitude of damage to the brain.
Meyerhoff said heavy drinking affects a person’s daily routine, such as decision making, planning, regulation of emotions, memory and motor control.
He said heavy drinking causes people to have a difficult time storing and retrieving information and understanding consequences for their actions.
He also said heavy drinkers may struggle to handle their time and money.
The researchers said through the study they found the chemical abnormalities in a heavy drinker’s brain provided evidence of brain impairment even if the person was unaware of it.
Although the study shows that damages are caused by excessive drinking, Meyerhoff said people can drink with limitation.
“Drink in moderation. Heavy drinking damages your brain ever so slightly, reducing your cognitive functioning in ways that may not be readily noticeable,” Meyerhoff said. “To be safe, don’t over do it.”