A new study from researchers at UK DRI at Imperial has shown that even low alcohol consumption is associated with structural changes in multiple organ systems including the brain, heart and liver. The findings suggest a possible relationship between alcohol and diseases such as Alzheimer’s, say the authors, who also urge that current guidelines on drinking alcohol need to be revisited.
Published today (1 June) in the journal eLife, the team from UK DRI at Imperial led by Group Leader Prof Paul Elliott, analysed magnetic resonance images of the brain, heart, arteries and liver from thousands of late middle-aged study participants available in the UK Biobank database.
The researchers compared self-reported alcohol intake with structural changes in these organs, finding that increasing alcohol consumption was associated with reduced brain matter volume, increased heart ventricle mass and increased fat on the liver. These effects have been linked to conditions such as Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular and liver disease. Importantly, the study findings suggest that that there is no lower threshold to the associations seen between alcohol and structural changes, meaning even low alcohol intake could be harmful.
Study lead Prof Paul Elliott, Group Leader from UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial, Chair in Epidemiology and Public Health Medicine at Imperial said:
"In the UK and many places worldwide, it is recommended that men and women avoid more than one or two alcoholic drinks a day. Our results suggest that intake below these levels could still lead to pathological structural and functional changes across multiple organs. Therefore, we recommend that current public health guidelines around alcohol consumption are reconsidered."
