Dementia risk may be cut by drinking less of one beverage

Dementia, which affects over 944,000 people in the UK, refers to conditions causing ongoing cognitive decline.

Drinking alcohol may do more than trigger a hangover, it could also be damaging your brain. New research is pointing to an alarming connection between regular alcohol consumption and an increased risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, which now affects over 944,000 people in the UK.

One of the most striking studies was published in 2023 by Atrium Health, where US researchers tested the impact of chronic drinking on mice. Over a 10-week period, the animals were given the option to consume either alcohol or water.

Even modest alcohol intake was enough to trigger brain atrophy, a condition that involves the loss and shrinking of brain tissue, alongside a rise in toxic amyloid plaques, the proteins closely associated with Alzheimer’s.

“These findings suggest alcohol might accelerate the pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages,” said Associate Professor Shannon Macauley, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

“These preclinical findings suggest that even moderate consumption of alcohol can result in brain injury.

“Alcohol consumption may be a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.”

The implications of alcohol use don’t end with animal studies. In 2024, a major study from Oxford University placed alcohol among the top contributors to cognitive decline.

Researchers analysed brain scans from 40,000 people, identifying alcohol as one of several major risk factors that can damage brain areas known to be vulnerable in the early stages of ageing.

“We know that a constellation of brain regions degenerates earlier in ageing, and in this new study we have shown that these specific parts of the brain are most vulnerable to diabetes, traffic-related air pollution, increasingly a major player in dementia, and alcohol, of all the common risk factors for dementia,” explained Professor Gwenaëlle Douaud, who led the research.

She added that genetic variations linked to this vulnerable brain network are associated with serious conditions such as cardiovascular disease, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as the rare XG blood antigen system, a surprising and previously unknown link uncovered during the study.

The growing body of research may prompt some to rethink their relationship with alcohol. Current NHS guidelines recommend drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, spread across three or more days.