Heavy Drinking Linked to Brain Damage and Shorter Lifespan, Major Study Finds

Pour one out for brain health—literally. A new study published in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology, finds that people who drink eight or more alcoholic beverages each week may be putting their brains at serious risk. Researchers say this level of drinking is linked to a higher risk of hyaline arteriolosclerosis, a type of brain lesion that narrows and thickens blood vessels, disrupting blood flow and, in turn, leading to memory and cognition issues.

Study author Dr. Alberto Fernando Oliveira Justo of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School put it bluntly: "Heavy alcohol consumption is damaging to the brain, which can lead to memory and thinking problems."

Researchers conducted brain autopsies on 1,781 people, average age 75, looking for signs of damage. Family members provided info about the deceased’s drinking habits. Those who were heavy drinkers (eight or more drinks weekly) had a whopping 133% higher risk of vascular brain lesions than those who never drank, and their risk was significantly higher compared to former heavy or moderate drinkers. Heavy and former heavy drinkers also showed more tau tangles, which are associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Not exactly the kind of legacy anyone wants to leave behind.

The definition of "one drink" used here: 14 grams of alcohol, roughly a can of beer, a small glass of wine, or a shot of spirits. Former heavy drinkers showed lower cognitive function and less brain mass relative to body mass than moderate drinkers or those who never drank. And if you needed another reason to rethink that extra round, heavy drinkers, on average, lived 13 years less than abstainers.

Dr. Earnest Lee Murray, a board-certified neurologist not involved in the study, confirmed that these findings are in line with what’s already known: heavy drinking shrinks the brain and increases risk for stroke and cognitive decline. He added, "Even a few drinks a week increases risk of vascular abnormalities in the brain." Those notorious neurofibrillary tangles, the same ones seen in Alzheimer’s, were more common in heavy drinkers too.

While some earlier studies hinted that a little alcohol could be good for vascular health, the tide is turning. Murray points out that mounting evidence suggests any alcohol might be "detrimental to both vascular health and cognitive abilities." His advice: moderate or stop drinking, even if you're young, to reduce your dementia risk later in life.

Dr. James Berry, chair of behavioral medicine and psychiatry at the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, who also wasn’t involved in the study, echoed these concerns. He urged doctors to talk to middle-aged and older patients about alcohol’s impact on the brain, especially regarding cognitive decline. "Cutting down or stopping drinking is definitely one of the controllable risk factors," Berry said.

However, the study isn’t without its critics. Dr. Amanda Berger from the Distilled Spirits Council noted that the study relies on family-reported drinking histories, which only covered the three months before death—hardly a full picture of someone’s habits. Also, the "heavy drinker" label included everyone from eight drinks a week to fifty, making it tough to pinpoint exact risks. She emphasized that while the study links alcohol to certain brain changes, it doesn’t prove a direct relationship between moderate or heavy drinking and cognitive ability.

The researchers themselves acknowledge the limitations: the study shows a link, not causation, and it didn’t account for participants’ overall health before death or drinking duration. Still, the message is loud and clear—heavy drinking and brain health just don’t mix.