Does drinking alcohol shrink your brain?

By Theresa Tamkins

"People who drink alcohol -- even the moderate amounts that help prevent heart disease -- have a smaller brain volume than those who do not, according to a study in the Archives of Neurology..."

"'Decline in brain volume -- estimated at 2 percent per decade -- is a natural part of aging,' says Carol Ann Paul, who conducted the study when she was at the Boston University School of Public Health. She had hoped to find that alcohol might protect against such brain shrinkage."

"'However, we did not find the protective effect,' says Paul, who is now an instructor in the neuroscience program at Wellesley College. 'In fact, any level of alcohol consumption resulted in a decline in brain volume...'"

Full article available at http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/10/14/healthmag.alcohol.brai...