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Nick: Fake
Oggetto: notizia pre-pubblicazione
Data: 9/12/2003 17.7.26
Visite: 69
What's New in Health Care
Alcohol may Shrink Your Brain
(Ivanhoe Newswire) Dec. 5, 2003 -- A new study conducted by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows that a link may exist between low to moderate alcohol consumption and a decrease in brain size of middle-aged adults.
The study was performed on nearly 2,000 men and women, age 55 and older. Researchers used magnetic resonance imaging to determine their brain size, infarcts and white matter lesions, which are changes in the brain correlated with the risk of stroke.
As alcohol consumption increased, the MRI identified increases in the spaces that do not contain brain tissue -- an indication of brain deterioration. However, no consistent link was found between alcohol intake and infarctions or white matter lesions.
Researchers also found low or moderate consumption did not reduce the risk of stroke, which contradicts the findings published by the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Jingzhong Ding, Ph.D., lead author of the study, says "We studied a younger, middle-aged population and found that low amounts of alcohol consumption are also associated with decreases in brain size. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that low or moderate alcohol intake offers any protection against cerebral abnormalities or the risk of stroke in middle-aged adults."
Ding also says because MRI measures in the brain were only conducted once during follow up, a casual relationship between alcohol consumption and brain atrophy is difficult to determine.
"The strength of the study lies in the large population-based sample and the consistency of the findings by gender and race," says Ding.
Source: To be published in an upcoming issue of Stroke
Copyright © 2003 Ivanhoe Broadcast News, Inc.
http://www.jhbmc.jhu.edu/healthcarenews03/03120502.html
