[kj] OT: Drinking leads to brain shrinkage

[Brendan]

Being in good health but with a 5 -10% smaller brain aren't mutually
exclusive, as long as the smaller brain isn't terminal, and why should it
be if it doesn't affect the body regulation areas? I also don't find it
hard to get my head around a small amount of alcohol being bad for you
(despite not liking to hear it)...big doses of alcohol are known to fuck
your brain badly, so it's not a huge stretch to imagine that small doses
can too? Alcohol can cross the blood / brain barrier (obviously), appears
that it can do it in small concentrations...

Then again it doesn't necessarily mean that the brain can't compensate by
re-wiring existing areas or whatever, all they were on about was brain
volume, not function.

*knocks back a shot of tequila*


>

>  I do not know whom I should believe. If you go to the deep Italian

> countryside, you would see old people still in great mental shape, maybe

> fragile, but they are really fine. They drink their glass of wine per

> meal, and they are fine.

>

> Unfortunately, I knew people who died of Lou Gehrig disease. They would

> get up at 5 am, run for one hour, go back home, shower, have breakfast and

> go to work. They had a very healthy life (no high blood pressure, low

> cholesterol, no drinking/smoking), and yet they got that disease. And it

> was sad to see them in that condition. My mom's boss died of Lou Gehrig's

> 12 years ago.

>

> I believe that everything in moderation cannot harm.

>

>

>

> Alas, years ago I read that people who would not consume enough

> vegetables, suffer from high blood pressure, have high cholesterol, don't

> have/or have poor education, don't have an active life, are more subject

> to develop alzheimer's. My mom is sick with ALZ, and she always had a

> healthy diet and always had a hell of brains (and challenging jobs). So, I

> truly do not believe in all theories, as they are based on statistics that

> may not consider some categories of people the way they should.

>

> That's my 2-cents....

>

>

>

>

>

> -----Original Message-----

> From: B. Oliver Sheppard <bigblackhair at sbcglobal.net>

> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)

> <gathering at misera.net>

> Sent: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 5:56 am

> Subject: [kj] OT: Drinking leads to brain shrinkage

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

> Very depressing news if true!  - Oliver?

> ?

>

>

> http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/10/14/alcohol-brain.html?

> ?

>

>

> Drinking leads to shrinking, brain study suggests?

>

> Last Updated: Tuesday, October 14, 2008 | 2:59 PM ET ?

>

> CBC News?

> ?

>

> Alcohol may have a protective effect on the heart, but not the brain, a

> study suggests. ?

>

> Consuming even small amounts of alcohol seems to shrink the brain,

> researchers have found.?

> ?

>

> Moderate alcohol consumption has been linked to a lower risk of

> cardiovascular disease, leading researchers to investigate whether it also

> slows aging-related declines in brain volume.?

> ?

>

> But it turned out that people who drink more showed more brain shrinkage,

> Carol Ann Paul of Wellesley College in Massachusetts and her colleagues

> report in the October issue of Archives of Neurology.?

> ?

>

> "It's been known that people who drink a lot have a decline in brain

> volume. What I was looking for was a protective effect in people who drink

> one to seven glasses a week," Paul says.?

> ?

>

> "My expectation is that it would [be protective]. And it didn't turn out

> that way."?

> ?

>

> As we age, our brain volume decreases at an estimated rate of 1.9 per cent

> per decade, the study notes. At the same time, the brain accumulates

> white-matter lesions that may occur in cases of dementia and cognitive

> decline.?

> ?

>

> The researchers analyzed data on 1,839 American adults aged 33 to 88 who

> reported their alcohol consumption and had magnetic resonance imaging

> scans to examine brain volume, along with medical exams.?

> ?

>

> None of the participants in the continuing Framingham Offspring Study

> showed evidence of clinical dementia or stroke.?

> ?

>

> Participants were divided into five groups: abstainers, former drinkers,

> and low, moderate and high consumers.?

> ?

>

> No protective effect found?

> ?

>

> Among those who drank the most, more than 14 drinks a week, the brain was

> one per cent smaller on average, compared with abstainers, the researchers

> found, after correcting for head size, age, sex, education, height, body

> mass index and stroke risk.?

> ?

>

> "In contrast to studies on cardiovascular disease, this study found that

> moderate alcohol consumption was not protective against normal age-related

> differences in total brain volume," the study concluded.?

> ?

>

> "Rather, the more alcohol consumed, the smaller the total brain volume."?

> ?

>

> "The public health effect of this study gives a clear message about the

> possible dangers of drinking alcohol," the study's authors wrote.?

> ?

>

> Almost 38 per cent of men and more than 44 per cent of women fell into the

> low consumption category, having one to seven drinks per week.?

> ?

>

> While men were more likely to drink alcohol, the association between

> drinking and loss of brain volume was stronger in women, perhaps because

> women may be more susceptible to the effects of alcohol, the researchers

> say.?

> ?

>

> The team called for more long-term studies to confirm the findings and

> determine what the consequences there are for smaller brain volumes, if

> any.?

> ?

>

> The harmful effects of alcohol abuse include damage to the liver, brain

> and other organs.?

> ?

>

> With files from Reuters ?

>

>

> _______________________________________________?

>

> Gathering mailing list?

>

> Gathering at misera.net?

>

> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering?

>

>

>

>

>

> _______________________________________________

> Gathering mailing list

> Gathering at misera.net

> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

>