A study published in the BMJ by Anya Topiwala of Oxford University indicated that even a couple of glasses of wine a night can cause brain damage and affect problem solving skills in old age. We have always known that heavy drinking is bad for the brain. Now the new findings tell us that even moderate amount of alcohol consumption is 3 times more likely to cause brain atrophy resulting in early dementia.

The more you drank the more likely is the risk of atrophy in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is located within the brain’s medial temporal lobe and forms an important part of the limbic system, the region that regulates emotions. The hippocampus is associated mainly with long-term memory. The organ also plays an important role in spatial navigation. It is atrophied in early Alzheimer’s disease and is one of the first regions of the brain to shrink.

People who drank 14 to 21 units a week saw a 17% greater decline in verbal fluency than teetotallers. The Chief Medical Officer in Britain has urged men and women not to drink more than 14 units per week.

One unit of alcohol is 10 ml (1 cl) by volume, or 8 g by weight, of pure alcohol.

One unit of alcohol equals:
• half a pint of ordinary strength beer or lager.
• 25 mls of spirits (40% alcohol by volume)
• 50 mls of fortified wine such as sherry or port (20% alcohol by volume).
• A small glass (125 ml) of ordinary strength wine (12% alcohol by volume) and 35 mls of spirits (40% alcohol by volume) both count as 1.5 units each