'Wine is worse for brain than beer'
London, Mar 17: Binge drinkers beware! Drinking wine damages the brain more than beer or spirits, scientists claim. According to scientists it affects the hippocampus, the part of the brain which is located deep within the brain's temporal lobes, is up to 10 per cent smaller in those who drank wine.
he team of psychiatrists behind the study said: "This is the first study investigating the impact of the type of preferred beverage on brain-volume shrinkage in patients with alcohol dependence" quoted as saying in the Daily Mail. The study compared brain scans from diagnosed alcoholics with those from healthy adults. In non-alcoholics the hippocampus was 3.85ml. In beer drinkers it was 3.4ml, in spirit drinkers 2.9ml and for wine drinkers it was the smallest, just 2.8ml. Moderate wine drinking has been linked to a host of health benefits, including reducing cholesterol and high blood pressure. Resveratol, a molecule found in the skin of red grapes, has been associated with health benefits including a reduced risk of heart disease, strokes and cancers.
But
research
in
the
International
Journal
of
Cancer
last
year
claimed
just
one
glass
of
wine
a
day
could
increase
the
risk
of
bowel
cancer
by
10
per
cent,
and
over-consumption
of
any
alcohol
can
lead
to
increased
risk
of
kidney
and
liver
disease,
long-term
brain
damage
and
organ
failure.
UNI