Study Finds that Booze Shrinks Brains!

Yet another study to show us what we already know...

Drinking too much alcohol on a regular basis may speed the shrinking of the brain that comes with age and accelerate mental decline, a study showed.

Brain scans of more than 1,800 people showed that those who consumed more than 14 drinks a week had about 1.6 percent less brain volume compared with nondrinkers. The effect was more pronounced among women than men, said lead researcher Carol Ann Paul, an instructor at Wellesley College near Boston.

Size reductions in certain parts of the brain have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease in previous research. More than 12 million Americans could be diagnosed as alcohol dependent, and consuming 12 to 15 drinks a week places a person at risk of the condition, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

“The study is a snapshot in time,” Paul said in a telephone interview yesterday. “We’re not looking at their entire history. The next steps would be to look at the longitudinal effects of alcohol, the effects over a lifetime.”

More research is needed to help determine whether the results apply to a wider population and specifically what the connection means, Paul said.

Paul and her colleagues were looking for signs that alcohol might slow brain aging in a way similar to the reduction in heart disease that studies have shown for people who consume low- to moderate amounts. Paul presented the study results at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Boston yesterday.

The researchers examined results of brain scans performed on men and women 34 to 88 years old and without signs of dementia. Dividing the group into nondrinkers, former drinkers, low, moderate and high drinkers, the researchers measured brain volume in relation to skull size, considered a marker of brain aging.

People with a 12-year history of heavy drinking had less brain volume than those who began drinking more moderately during that period and later consumed greater amounts, Paul said.

Heavy drinking seemed to have the most negative impact on the brain volume of women in their 70s, she said. Past studies have suggested that older women have risk factors that make them particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of heavy drinking.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, almost 18 million Americans abuse alcohol. Each year, more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol-related causes.

This reminds me of some sage words:

“In my country, scientists say women have brain size of squirrel.”

If they drink alcohol it’s a possibility! I guess my generation is doomed to be squirrel brained individuals hopelessly wandering around with our mouths agape and our eyes showing interest for only fleeting moments before the ADD takes hold again. We will become living zombies, walking around moaning and using hokey pick-up lines.

In fact the shrinking of brain matter may explain some of these guys you see in clubs who seem to genuinely think that a cheesy pickup line can work…

Anyway, it’s a study that demonstrates something we already know – alcohol kills brain cells. So next time you have a drink, be sure to commemorate the memories and cognitive faculties lost!

Mark

Free online classifieds

New Beer gives women bigger breasts!

I wonder what my girlfriend would think about this:

Breast-boosting beer

European men are flocking to Bulgaria to buy ‘breast-boosting beer’ after EU accession led to customs duties on the drink being abolished.

The millet-ale called Boza which is made from fermented wheat flour and yeast is being snapped up by bar owners, shopkeepers and shoppers from across Europe.

They are said to be keen for their wives and girlfriends to benefit from its reported ability to make women’s breasts grow.

Constantin Barbu crossed the Danube from Romania to buy Boza in the Bulgarian border town of Ruse.

He said: “I’ve bought a case for my wife to try out. I really hope I see an improvement.”

And Austrian landlord Klaus Schmidt from the ski resort of Schladming said he was planning a trip soon.

He added: “I had heard of Boza before but it was always so expensive once the tax was added. But now that’s gone I’m going to start offering the drink to my après-ski customers.”

This would be an awesome thing to import to the US! Beer that enhances jubblies? That is a miraculous thing! It combines two of the greatest things (beer and tits) and they improve each other!

Though I can actually see lobbyists from plastic surgeons specializing in boob jobs complaining and trying to stop this… That’s not so bad of course, let the boob war begin!

Mark

San Diego classified ads