[lbo-talk] Drinking causes brain shrinkage over long term

[Sean Andrews]

On Wed, Oct 15, 2008 at 6:49 AM, B. <docile_body at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> Among those who drank the most, more than 14 drinks a week, the brain was one per cent smaller on average, compared with abstainers, the researchers found, after correcting for head size, age, sex, education, height, body mass index and stroke risk.
>
> "In contrast to studies on cardiovascular disease, this study found that moderate alcohol consumption was not protective against normal age-related differences in total brain volume," the study concluded.
>
> "Rather, the more alcohol consumed, the smaller the total brain volume."

So the study wasn't long term and can't say that the drinking of
alcohol caused the brain shrinkage, just that they seem to be
correlated when compared to averages.

In that case, couldn't it be that, the smaller a person's brain, the
more they drink?

The Hitchens point would still apply.

s