It’s easy to enjoy a cold drink or two when the sun is out and summer vibes are high, especially when you’re relaxing in the backyard with family or friends.
But while that might sound harmless, health experts are urging people to drink in moderation. That extra beer might not seem like a big deal, but you may want to pause before opening another one.
Researchers, whose work appears in the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology (AAN), found that people who drink eight or more alcoholic drinks in a single week may be more likely to develop brain lesions called hyaline arteriolosclerosis.
This condition involves the thickening of the walls of small arteries, known as arterioles, due to a buildup of a substance called hyaline, which shows up as a pinkish stain under the microscope.
These lesions—essentially damaged areas in the brain can lead to problems with memory, cognitive function, and even basic problem-solving skills.
In this study, researchers looked at brain autopsies from 1,781 deceased individuals. The average age at the time of their death was 75.
To clarify how much alcohol counts as a single drink, researchers noted: “Researchers defined one drink as having 14 grams of alcohol, which is about 350 millliliters (ml) of beer, 150 ml of wine or 45 ml of distilled spirits.”
Even after adjusting for other factors that can influence brain health—like smoking or age at death—the findings were clear. Heavy drinkers were 133 percent more likely to have vascular lesions in their brains compared to people who never drank alcohol at all.
Alberto Fernando Oliveira Justo, PhD, of the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil and lead author of the study, shared: “Heavy alcohol consumption is a major global health concern linked to increased health problems and death.”
“Understanding these effects is crucial for public health awareness and continuing to implement preventive measures to reduce heavy drinking.”
