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

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Orwell to turn in grave

I found this story from the Foreign Policy blog, and it links to this BBC article:

 

‘Talking’ CCTV scolds offenders

CCTV in action

“Talking” CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be extended to 20 areas across England. They are already used in Middlesbrough where people seen misbehaving can be told to stop via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff.

About £500,000 will be spent adding speaker facilities to existing cameras.

Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire said the government should be “very careful” over the cameras.

An example of how talking cameras work

Home Secretary John Reid told BBC News there would be some people, “in the minority who will be more concerned about what they claim are civil liberties intrusions”.

“But the vast majority of people find that their life is more upset by people who make their life a misery in the inner cities because they can’t go out and feel safe and secure in a healthy, clean environment because of a minority of people,” he added.

What really upsets people is their night out being destroyed or their environment being destroyed by a fairly small minority of people John Reid

The talking cameras did not constitute “secret surveillance”, he said.

“It’s very public, it’s interactive.”

Competitions would also be held at schools in many of the areas for children to become the voice of the cameras, Mr Reid said.

Downing Street’s “respect tsar”, Louise Casey, said the cameras “nipped problems in the bud” and reduced bureaucracy.

“It gets across the message, ‘please don’t litter our streets because someone else will have to pay to pick up that litter again’,” she told BBC News.

“Half a billion pounds a year is spent picking up litter.”

‘Scarecrow policing’

Mr Brokenshire told the BBC he had a number of concerns about the use of the talking cameras.

“Whether this is moving down a track of almost ‘scarecrow’ policing rather than real policing – actually insuring that we have more bobbies on the beat – I think that’s what we really want to see, albeit that an initiative like this may be an effective tool in certain circumstances.

“We need to be very careful about applying this more generally.”

The talking cameras will be installed in Southwark, Barking and Dagenham, in London, Reading, Harlow, Norwich, Ipswich, Plymouth, Gloucester, Derby, Northampton, Mansfield, Nottingham, Coventry, Sandwell, Wirral, Blackpool, Salford, South Tyneside and Darlington.

HAVE YOUR SAY A very silly idea from a government that is bereft of wisdom and out of touch Stuart, Dunstable Send us your comments

In Middlesbrough, staff in a control centre monitor pictures from 12 talking cameras and can communicate directly with people on the street.

Local councillor Barry Coppinger says the scheme has prevented fights and criminal damage and cut litter levels.

“Generally, I think it has raised awareness that the town centre is a safe place to visit and also that we are keeping an eye open to make sure it is safe,” he said.

But opponent and campaigner Steve Hills said: “Apart from being absurd, I think it’s rather sad that we should have faceless cameras barking at us on orders from who? Who sets these cameras up?”

There are an estimated 4.2 million CCTV cameras in Britain.

A recent study by the government’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner, warned that Britain was becoming a “surveillance society”.

Now as Orwellian and foreboding as this is, I still think it would be fun to be the guy on the microphone watching the camera. “Hey, jackass with the stupid looking yellow hat, yeah you. Stop leaving your shit on the floor, clean it up!”

All kinds of potential for fun and abuse. =P

Mark

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