Kenneth Mukamal, who studies alcohol consumption and disease risk.

Heavy drinking had the greatest impact, but even moderate levels - a few drinks per week - were tied to quicker brain atrophy.īut from a practical standpoint, there's no clear way to use the current findings, according to Dr. The findings add to evidence questioning whether lighter drinking is safe for the brain.Ī study published in March, for example, found that people who drank regularly showed more age-related brain shrinkage than non-drinkers. As expected, Topiwala said, people's mental sharpness waned with age, and higher brain iron seemed to worsen that effect. The findings - published online July 14 in the journal PLOS Medicine - do not prove that alcohol directly raised brain iron or that brain iron was responsible for the lower test scores.Īnd the actual effects on test performance were small, according to Topiwala.īut they appeared to add to the effects of aging. Higher brain iron, in turn, was linked to lower scores on tests of mental skills like planning, reasoning, reaction time and problem-solving. And even moderate drinking - anything above four standard drinks a week - was tied to a greater accumulation of brain iron. Overall, markers of brain iron were lowest in non-drinkers. The researchers focused on just under 21,000 who had undergone MRI brain scans and reported on their average alcohol intake. But whether moderate drinkers might harbor more brain iron than non-drinkers has been unknown.įor the new study, the investigators turned to the UK Biobank, a research database with medical and genetic information on about 500,000 British adults aged 40 and older. And that excess iron has been linked to cognitive decline - a slow deterioration in memory and thinking skills that can lead to dementia.Įxcess brain iron has also been found in people with alcohol dependence, according to Topiwala's team. The brain requires a certain level of iron to function normally, but the aging brain can accumulate an excess. Anya Topiwala of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. 'Even small amounts of alcohol, within current alcohol guidelines, could harm your brain,' said lead researcher Dr. But the findings add to evidence that there may be no 'safe' level of drinking when it comes to brain health. It's not yet clear what it all could mean.

Researchers found that among nearly 21,000 middle-aged and older adults, those who drank as little as a few beers a week showed more iron accumulation in their brains than non-drinkers.Īnd iron buildup in certain brain areas correlated with weaker scores on tests of mental abilities like reasoning, planning and problem-solving. MONDAY, J(HealthDay News) - Even moderate drinking may be related to higher iron levels in the brain - a potentially risky situation for memory and thinking skills, a new study suggests.

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