It's no secret that drinking too much alcohol at any age presents a slew of serious health risks, not the least of which is for your liver. But regularly indulging in too much alcohol can prove detrimental to your brain health as well, with a new study highlighting how middle-aged adults who imbibe more than two drinks per day are at higher risk for stroke.
The research team, whose findings were published in the January 29 edition of Stroke, evaluated nearly 12,000 middle-aged pairs of Swedish twins as part of a larger investigation into the influence of lifestyles and genetics on stroke risk. The researchers determined that participants who drank heavily in their 50s and 60s — defined as an average of over two alcoholic drinks per day — were 34 percent more likely to suffer a stroke, compared to those whose average daily drinking amounts were less than half of one drink.
While it's not clear what exactly links heavy drinking and stroke risk, some scientists have speculated that alcohol's ability to thin the blood may increase a person's risk for suffering a hemorrhage, in which a blood vessel breaks within the brain.
Although heavy drinkers, light drinkers and nondrinkers alike all exhibit an increased risk of stroke with age, heavy drinkers are at a higher likelihood of suffering a stroke five years earlier in their lives, regardless of any other genetic or lifestyle factors. By contrast, stroke risk for light and nondrinkers only grows gradually.
According to HealthDay News, this study highlights how excessive drinking in middle age is just as bad a risk factor for stroke as diabetes or high blood pressure, although these two factors become the better predictors for stroke by age 75.
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