fredrickdihttps://amplifi.casa/@/fredrickdi@lorem.club/atom.xml2021-05-21T02:17:12.452912+00:00<![CDATA[Honeybees tell time without clocks or sun, study says. It may be bad news for your diet]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/honeybees-tell-time-without-clocks-or-sun-study-says-it-may-be-bad-news-for-your-diet/2021-05-21T02:17:12.452912+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T02:17:12.452912+00:00<![CDATA[<p><img src="https://lorem.club/static/media/01578F63-E9B7-5A7C-5A82-160C33416017.png" alt="Honeybees tell time without clocks or sun, study says. It may be bad news for your diet">
Nearly all living organisms from humans to microscopic fungi have an internal clock that signals when it’s time to wake up and go to sleep, among other complex behaviors needed to survive.</p>
<p>Now, scientists are buzzing over newly emerged details about the circadian rhythms of honeybees — those busy bodies responsible for about one of every three bites of food you eat.</p>
<p>It’s well known that honeybees use light to tell time, but a mixture of laboratory and real-world experiments revealed the insects also use temperature fluctuations inside their dark hives to understand when it’s time to hunt for food, mate or even whip out their fancy dance moves to send important messages to others.</p>
<p>By studying forager honeybee behavior inside simulated hives, a team of researchers learned the bees shifted their daily routines, or circadian clocks, with the temperature. But with average global temperatures expected to climb over the years, bringing along with it more extreme weather events, how could this time-telling tool affect honeybees?</p>
<p>Researchers say the critters are bound to face challenges in “maintaining the activities that keep them and the agriculture they support healthy and vibrant” — temperatures too low can shrivel their wings and temperatures too high can kill off brood.</p>
<p>“While studies are still needed to answer this question, extreme winter and summer weather could reach a point beyond what bees could compensate, leading to losses in the bee populations,” Giannoni-Guzmán told McClatchy News in an email. “This could in turn impact crops” that rely on honeybee pollination.</p>
<p>Honeybees are among the most efficient pollinator species in the world, placing apples, cranberries, broccoli and many other crops on our plates, according to the American Beekeeping Federation. Some, like blueberries and cherries, are 90% dependent on honeybees, while others such as almonds have bees to thank for it all.</p>
<p>The findings were posted as a non-peer reviewed preprint on May 16, but a study will be published in the journal Annals of the Entomological Society of America.</p>
<p>“If part of the southern U.S. is hit with an unexpected snowstorm, bees getting ready to forage might not realize they need to conserve energy and heat the hive. In the event of a 100-degree day, bees will have to expend a lot of energy keeping the colony cool,” study co-author Manuel Giannoni-Guzmán, a postdoctoral scholar in biological sciences at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, said in a statement. Researchers from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, University of Puerto Rico Rio Piedras, University of Pittsburgh and East Tennessee State University also contributed to the work.</p>
<p>“It is those considerations that will influence colony health or possible colony collapse,” Giannoni-Guzmán added.</p>
<p>The team first measured temperatures and light inside natural honeybee hives located in Gurabo, Puerto Rico, every 30 minutes between 2012 and 2014, averaging a high of about 84 degrees Fahrenheit to a low of about 64 degrees. The researchers learned the temperature changes as much as 7 degrees in one day.</p>
<p>To determine if bee behavior changes with temperature, the team simulated natural hives in a lab, placing them in complete darkness while exposing the insects to temperature cycles observed in the wild. After six days, the researchers shifted the temperature cycle by six hours to see how the bees reacted.</p>
<p>About 51% of the honeybees changed their behavior along with the temperature. Among them, 56% made gradual alterations while 44% made abrupt ones, to the researchers’ surprise.</p>
<p>“In general honeybees will change their activity levels as the seasons progress. They are more active in spring and summer months, come fall their activity begins to taper,” Giannoni-Guzmán told McClatchy News. “We observed a shift in the activity of some bees that matched the six-hour shift in the temperature cycle.”</p>
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<p>The many jobs honeybees take up to support their hive, such as cleaning, raising young or foraging for food, are thought to be determined by a mixture of genetics and hormones. The researchers speculate that these different tasks, and the times they are usually performed, could explain the variations in responses to temperature inside hives.</p>
<p>Other factors besides temperature may be able to influence honeybees’ internal clocks, too, the researchers said, such as humidity, which they noticed fluctuates similarly in a 24-hour period.</p>
<p>“However, whether these oscillations are capable of entraining the clock of bees remains a subject of future research,” they wrote in the study.</p>
<p>“We want to see how important this research is come winter in Tennessee, when bees aren’t leaving the hive as much,” Giannoni-Guzmán said. “We will be interested to see how our findings apply to temperate regions where there is a greater degree of temperature variability across the year.”</p>
]]><![CDATA[If you take one of these common pain medications, you should read this now]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/if-you-take-one-of-these-common-pain-medications-you-should-read-this-now/2021-05-21T02:12:29.014532+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T02:12:29.014532+00:00<![CDATA[<p><img src="https://lorem.club/static/media/AA36342F-88D2-369E-BBC8-E294B12C78AA.png" alt="If you take one of these common pain medications, you should read this now">
Your back hurts, you have a headache, or you stubbed your pinky toe on the coffee table and it just won’t stop throbbing. What do you do? Reaching for a common painkiller might be your first instinct, but new research from multiple groups suggests that if you care about your long-term health, you may want to rethink things a bit.</p>
<p>As Knowridge reports, a trio of studies has now linked common painkillers — both over-the-counter and prescription varieties — to long-term increases in the risk of heart attacks, stroke, kidney issues, sleep disorders, obesity, and general inflammation of the heart and kidneys. The report is a collection of damning studies that should be taken seriously, especially if you find yourself reaching for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on a regular basis and care about your overall health.</p>
<p>The studies focused on both over-the-counter versions of NSAIDs and prescription-strength painkillers of the same class. All of the drugs are meant to decrease inflammation and reduce pain, but while they may help in the short-term, they are clearly having long-term effects in at least a significant portion of those who take them.</p>
<p>In one study from the University of Alabama, the NSAID carprofen was linked to inflammation in organs including the heart and kidneys. The study was conducted on animals, but it’s highly likely that the same would be true of humans, as painkillers like this don’t tend to have dramatically different effects on non-human animals vs humans.</p>
<p>A second study drew a clear link between the NSAID diclofenac and higher risks of heart attack and stroke over a period as short as one month when compared to over-the-counter NSAIDs including ibuprofen (Advil) and naproxen (Aleve). The risk was also higher than in those taking paracetamol (acetaminophen or Tylenol).</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, a third separate study linked more powerful painkillers like gabapentin and opiates to a dramatic increase in the risk of obesity. These drugs were also associated with an increase in sleeping problems and sleep disturbances, which can magnify existing mood disorders or other psychiatric conditions.</p>
<p>Put simply, just because these drugs are available either over the counter or are easy to get via a prescription doesn’t mean they’re to be taken with reckless abandon. Any time you’re putting medication into your body you are altering things in a way that simply wasn’t possible for the overwhelming majority of human existence. There is still a significant risk when taking any drug, no matter how benign it might seem.</p>
<p>There are many people on the planet dealing with chronic pain and other conditions that make these medications absolutely necessary. There’s no argument about that. However, if you find yourself taking these medications for pain that can be described more as “annoying” than “life-changing,” it might be a good idea to search for relief in other forms.</p>
]]><![CDATA[The #1 Thing Women Should Never Do if They Want To Prevent Dementia, According to Science]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/the-1-thing-women-should-never-do-if-they-want-to-prevent-dementia-according-to-science/2021-05-21T01:04:44.005564+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T01:04:44.005564+00:00<![CDATA[<p>It seems like almost every week, we're learning more about how important our lifestyle habits are for potentially preventing dementia (defined as a decline in mental ability that impacts daily life). Recently, researchers have discovered that walking three times per week, eating a berry-boosted diet and scoring more than six hours of sleep per night can make a serious impact on your brain health throughout your lifespan.</p>
<p>And recently, we have a new clue about dementia prevention thanks to a study published in the journal Scientific Reports. After analyzing data from more than 70,000 people between age 18 and 85 globally, scientists at the non-profit Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) discovered that smoking and cardiovascular disease have a direct association with cognitive function.</p>
<p>Both smoking and poor cardiovascular health (often triggered by factors like high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, high cholesterol and obesity) impair the ability to learn and memorize, but at different levels depending on gender. Smoking's dangerous impacts are more pronounced among females, while males are more compromised by cardiovascular disease. In other words, to prevent dementia, one of the best things women should do? Never start smoking cigarettes—or stop smoking ASAP if you do. (Yes, we know that's much easier said than done. The CDC has a whole host of smoking cessation resources to help kickstart the process, however.)</p>
<p>"These results suggest that smoking and cardiovascular disease impact verbal learning and memory throughout adulthood, starting as early as age 18," said Matt Huentelman, PhD, TGen Professor of Neurogenomics and the study's senior author in a press release. "Smoking is associated with decreased learning and memory function in women, while cardiovascular disease is associated with decreased learning and memory function in men."
<img src="https://lorem.club/static/media/CA6DF49C-3874-02C0-52AD-3C72870BE1CB.png" alt="The #1 Thing Women Should Never Do if They Want To Prevent Dementia, According to Science">
Besides Alzheimer's disease, the largest currently-recognized cause of cognitive decline is "vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia" (VCID), which is precipitated by stroke and other vascular brain damage that affects memory and thinking ability. Smoking and cardiovascular disease heighten risk for VCID.</p>
<p>While the researchers are unsure why there is a gender difference, they plan to keep digging into this very important topic in hopes of saving lives and maintaining brain health. Vascular diseases are linked to elevated risk of Alzheimer's disease, which is the nation's sixth leading cause of death in America, reports the CDC.</p>
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<p>For women who are already smoke-free, it's still important to keep tabs on cardiovascular health. Nearly all of the 13 things that could make you more likely to get Alzheimer's disease (one form of dementia) align with heart-healthy habits. According to a recent study in the journal Stroke, these include the American Heart Association's Life's Simple 7:</p>
<p>Not smoking (sensing a theme?)</p>
<p>Managing blood pressure</p>
<p>Keeping healthy cholesterol levels</p>
<p>Reducing blood sugar</p>
<p>Increasing physical activity</p>
<p>Eating a nutritious, balanced diet</p>
<p>Losing weight, if needed</p>
<p>Rounding out the rest of the top 13 Alzheimer's prevention strategies:</p>
<p>Preventing or treating symptoms of depression, if applicable</p>
<p>Reducing social isolation, if applicable</p>
<p>Limiting alcohol use</p>
<p>Combating sleep disorders, if applicable</p>
<p>Keeping the brain active</p>
<p>Treating hearing loss, if applicable</p>
<p>Focus on those 13 things and you'll be well on your way to nurturing a healthy brain, heart and body. </p>
]]><![CDATA[What's the Best Time to Take Vitamins?]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/what's-the-best-time-to-take-vitamins/2021-05-21T00:57:33.999029+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T00:57:33.999029+00:00<![CDATA[<p>Americans love their vitamins. According to the Council for Responsible Nutrition's 2019 Consumer Survey on Dietary Supplements, more Americans are taking dietary supplements than ever before. More than three-fourths (77%) of Americans surveyed reported they consume dietary supplements.</p>
<p>Adults between ages 35 and 54 are the biggest consumers of dietary supplements (81%). Vitamins and minerals were the most commonly consumed supplement category, with 76% of those surveyed reporting they had taken these products in the past 12 months.</p>
<p>Yet the predominance of research, and the advice of nutrition experts, suggests that taking vitamins and minerals is unnecessary for most individuals. "When my patients are able to consume a balanced diet consisting of a variety of foods including fruits and vegetables, I generally don't encourage an additional multivitamin supplementation," says Kristen Smith, registered dietitian, bariatric surgery coordinator for Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.</p>
<p>Thus, if you're taking or thinking about taking supplements, the first question to ask is whether you need them. "It is best to consult with a registered dietitian nutritionist to, one, identify if you can meet your needs from food; two, if you should supplement with a multivitamin or individual nutrient based on a health condition, diet gap or risk of deficiency from a medication interaction; and three, whether the supplement could actually be harmful," says Melissa Majumdar, a registered dietitian, metabolic and bariatric coordinator with Emory University Hospital Midtown in Atlanta and an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics spokesperson.</p>
<p>Some people certainly can benefit from a vitamin supplement. "In cases when a patient is pregnant, has malabsorption or history of intestinal surgery, is not capable of eating a balanced diet or has a known deficiency, I will recommend a multivitamin to help supplement their micronutrient intake," Smith says.</p>
<p>For anyone taking a dietary supplement -- whether they really need it or not -- there are certain guidelines to follow in order to maximize their effectiveness. These can relate to timing, whether to take with or without food and how to avoid taking too much of a nutrient, which could be harmful.</p>
<p>Talk to a Health Care Professional</p>
<p>Once you decide if you need or desire a supplement, talk to a physician or nutrition expert about timing, "based on the specific goal of the supplement," Majumdar says. A health care professional can help you create a personalized schedule for your vitamin regimen, Smith adds.</p>
<p>As a general rule, most people need to take a high-dose multivitamin/multimineral with food to prevent an upset stomach. "Nutrients found in multivitamins like iron, zinc and B vitamins can make someone feel nauseous if taken on an empty stomach," Majumdar says. So time your vitamin or mineral with a snack or at mealtime.</p>
<p>But not all snacks or meals fit the bill. "That being said, taking supplements alongside foods high in phytates or tannins can prevent absorption," Majumdar says. "Foods like whole grains, beans, nuts and seeds are high in phytates, which make great foods for overall diet but not great foods to pair with supplements." Phytates, she explains, are phosphorus stored in plants; the phytates bind to minerals and make absorption difficult. "Consider taking the multivitamin/multimineral two hours after a meal so your stomach isn't completely empty, but the phytates don't fight the absorption," she advises.</p>
<p>Fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin A, D, E and K are typically better absorbed when taken with a fat-containing food such as olive oil, nut butter or avocado, Smith says.</p>
<p>As for when to take vitamins, the evidence is unclear. But some mealtimes make more sense than others, depending on the vitamin or mineral. "The timing of when you take certain vitamins is important, however not necessary to be considered for all of them. Work with your health care professional to determine what is best for you," Smith says.</p>
<p>Vitamin-Specific Recommendations</p>
<p>To reiterate, most people get all the vitamins they need from a well-balanced diet. A few vitamins, though, are most commonly taken as a supplement, and it's important to understand how to take them safely and effectively.</p>
<p>Iron. Majumdar says that iron is best absorbed on an empty stomach, but can be difficult to tolerate, causing upset stomach, nausea and constipation. "Consider first trying it on an empty stomach, and if not tolerated, take at night before bed," she suggests.</p>
<p>Taking iron in smaller, divided doses throughout the day can also help with toleration. "Generally, the side effects are mild enough to sleep through, and if you avoid eating a few hours before bed, you can maximize absorption. Iron competes for absorption in the small intestine with calcium and zinc, so taking iron at least two hours apart from these nutrients is ideal," she says.</p>
<p>Since multivitamins often include iron, consider taking iron separately if it's needed for a true iron deficiency. But beware of overdosing. "Excess iron is stored in the liver and if taken in excess amounts, can be damaging, so consult a medical professional like a registered dietitian nutritionist before taking iron," Majumdar says.</p>
<p>The Recommended Dietary Allowance -- or the National Food and Nutrition Board's suggested dietary intake -- for all age groups of men and postmenopausal women is 8 milligrams a day; the RDA for premenopausal women is 18 mg/day. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level -- the maximum dose that can be taken without risking overdose or serious side effects -- is 45 mg/day for adults, according to the National Institutes of Health.</p>
<p>A specific type of iron known as heme iron, which is found in meat and other animal products, is better absorbed than nonheme iron, found in vegetarian foods like nuts, seeds and beans. "Heme sources of iron can enhance absorption of nonheme iron, the form in supplements, so taking iron alongside a food with heme-iron, like dark meat chicken or red meat, can help," she says.</p>
<p>Vitamin C. Food sources of vitamin C, like peppers, oranges, melons and kiwi, can enhance absorption of iron. So, if you are diagnosed with a true iron deficiency, be sure to combine your iron supplements with vitamin C-rich foods or supplements. Consider washing down your iron pill with a glass of orange juice in the morning at breakfast.</p>
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<p>Calcium. Many adults and children are not meeting calcium needs from food, Majumdar says. (The National Institutes of Health recommend anywhere from 1,000 milligrams a day for children age 4 to 8 up to 1,300 mg a day for teens, adults and pregnant or lactating women.) Not only is calcium often deficient, but this mineral also requires vitamin D to be absorbed. "And with vitamin D being one of the most common deficiencies among Americans, one should first have vitamin D levels checked," Majumdar says. "If not treated, calcium will not be properly absorbed, and the body will borrow calcium from the bone to keep blood levels stable."</p>
<p>Calcium may affect how the body absorbs iron, zinc or magnesium, Smith says; "consider taking calcium at least two hours apart" from those minerals. Also, the form of calcium is important. "Calcium citrate can be taken with or without food, but calcium carbonate requires an acidic environment to be broken down, so taking alongside food can increase the calcium digestion," Majumdar says.</p>
<p>It's believed that the body cannot absorb more than 500 to 600 milligrams at one time, so "calcium may require taking in split doses throughout the day," Smith says.</p>
<p>Vitamin D. Along with helping the body absorb calcium and keep bones strong, vitamin D is necessary for muscle, nerve and immune system health. The skin uses sunlight to manufacture this vitamin, but many people, especially in northern latitudes in winter, fail to make enough. Likewise, very few foods contain vitamin D, except those fortified with the vitamin, like cereals and milk products. Supplements are helpful, but too much can be harmful -- from stomach distress to, in extreme cases, kidney failure, irregular heartbeats and death. Upper limits are 100 micrograms per day for anyone over age 9, so consult with a dietitian or physician before starting this or any dietary supplement.</p>
]]><![CDATA[Scientists are zeroing in on when the Earth’s plates started to move]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/scientists-are-zeroing-in-on-when-the-earth’s-plates-started-to-move/2021-05-21T00:48:29.796548+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T00:48:29.796548+00:00<![CDATA[<p><img src="https://lorem.club/static/media/0F52BBD7-4D5D-DE93-20C7-8E95FDCD45FE.png" alt="Scientists are zeroing in on when the Earth’s plates started to move">
At some point in Earth's history, the planet's crust began to move, eventually giving rise to continents, mountains and volcanoes and supplying the surface with life-sustaining nutrients and elements. New research points to that movement starting in at least some places more than 3 billion years ago.</p>
<p>Why it matters: Earth is the only planet known so far to show plate tectonics. One of the biggest questions in geoscience is when and how tectonic activity began and changed, and answers could also guide the search for signs of similar processes — and potentially life — on far-away worlds.</p>
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<p>Estimates of the onset of plate tectonics range from 800 million to more than 4 billion years ago, but recent evidence is converging on that movement being underway globally around 3 billion years ago.</p>
<p>How it works: Our planet began an estimated 4.5 billion years ago as a ball of liquid metal and rock coalescing in the early solar system — what geologist Michael Ackerson of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History calls “gooey Earth.”</p>
<p>The planet then started cooling and, as it did, plates formed on the outermost layer that, at some point — possibly in fits and starts and here and there — began to move under one another.</p>
<p>That subduction process operates like a "conveyor belt," recycling and exchanging material and volatile chemicals between the surface of Earth and deep within it, says Ann Bauer, a geochemist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.</p>
<p>The big picture: What constitutes plate tectonics and its onset is an open debate among scientists. Earth's modern plate tectonics is characterized by how much large blocks move each year, subduction occurring and mid-ocean spreading that creates new crust.</p>
<p>"They occur in unison on the modern Earth, but that doesn’t mean they started together or that they always occurred together," Harvard University geologist Roger Fu tells Axios in an email.</p>
<p>"There is no doubt there are some geochemical indicators of subduction" in the Archean eon spanning 4 billion to 2.5 billion years ago, says Michael Brown, a geologist at the University of Maryland. But the key question is what that means for when and how plate-like behavior became stable, continuous and propagated across the globe.</p>
<p>Brown poses a different approach to nailing down the onset of plate tectonics: Rather than looking at early rocks for signs of the different aspects of plate tectonics emerging, he suggests working backward from today's plate tectonics and looking at when those indicators disappear.</p>
<p>"If we do that, we get agreement back to 750 million years ago. But once we go back before 750 million years ago, we get disagreement."</p>
<p>Background: Minerals like zircon that crystallize in ancient magma can contain tiny quantities of elements that serve as clues about the chemistry — and indirectly the geology — that formed them.</p>
<p>What's new: In a study of zircons from the Jack Hills of Western Australia — some of which, at 4.3 billion years old, are the oldest known material on Earth — Ackerson and his colleagues found an increase in aluminum in the minerals about 3.6 billion years ago.</p>
<p>There are two possible ways the aluminum got into the zircons, Ackerson says. Sediments at the surface with high amounts of aluminum might have been brought deep into the Earth and melted to create magma that then crystallized into zircons, which were then pushed back to the surface. Or the Earth cooled to the point where the crust thickened and magma with high aluminum content came to the surface.</p>
<p>"Both require some process akin to plate tectonics," Ackerson says.</p>
<p>Another study of zircons from the Acasta Gneiss in northern Canada, led by Bauer and geologist Jesse Reimink of Penn State University, also suggested some kind of crustal motion formed the minerals between 3.6 billion and 3.8 billion years ago based on a shift in the ratios of isotopes of hafnium in the zircons during that time.</p>
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<p>The researchers then looked at the records of zircons from six other places on the globe and found that the same shift occurred elsewhere at roughly the same time, Bauer says, adding they don't know if those samples represent the entire globe and the different types of crust at the surface at that time.</p>
<p>Yes, but: Just because these geochemical shifts can and typically do occur due to plate tectonics today "does not conclusively show that these conditions must have existed on the early Earth at the times they discuss," Fu says.</p>
<p>But, he adds, "something significant did seem to happen on the Earth at around that time" and evolution toward plate tectonics is "one clear possibility."</p>
]]><![CDATA[Drinking any amount of alcohol causes damage to the brain, study finds]]>https://lorem.club/~/FredrickDisBlog/drinking-any-amount-of-alcohol-causes-damage-to-the-brain-study-finds/2021-05-21T00:44:39.464032+00:00fredrickdihttps://lorem.club/@/fredrickdi/2021-05-21T00:44:39.464032+00:00<![CDATA[<p>It's generally accepted that alcohol is fine in small amounts and not so healthy in larger quantities. But a new study from researchers at the University of Oxford suggests that consuming any amount of alcohol can damage your brain.</p>
<p>The research, which is an observational study that hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, analyzed data from 25,378 people who participated in the U.K.’s Biobank study. That data included how much alcohol the participants said they drank, along with scans of their brains.</p>
<p>The researchers discovered that alcohol use was linked to the amount of gray matter in the brain, regions that affect how decisions are made. Specifically, the more people drank, the less gray matter they had — and people who drank any amount of alcohol had less gray matter than those who didn't drink. There were no differences in this impact between people who drank beer, wine and liquor.
<img src="https://lorem.club/static/media/D42D8795-D9C4-1F95-24AA-AAF04EA23EEE.png" alt="A new study from researchers at the University of Oxford suggests that consuming any amount of alcohol can damage your brain.">
"No safe dose of alcohol for the brain was found," the researchers wrote in the conclusion, adding that "moderate consumption is associated with more widespread adverse effects on the brain than previously recognized." The researchers also said that "current 'low risk' drinking guidelines should be revisited to take account of brain effects."</p>
<p>The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that adults 21 and older have no more than a drink or less a day for women and two drinks a day or less for men. The guidelines also state that people who don’t drink alcohol shouldn't start drinking for any reason. But for people who do drink alcohol, the guidelines say that drinking less is better for health.</p>
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<p>Lead study author Anya Topiwala, a senior clinical researcher at the University of Oxford, tells Yahoo Life that her study suggests "moderate" drinking recommendations should be revisited. "'Moderate' drinking is highly prevalent, yet there were still controversies about whether or not it affected the brain, such as the amount necessary and who is at higher risk," she says.</p>
<p>Your brain volume shrinks with age, and it shrinks even more if you happen to develop a condition like dementia, Topiwala points out. "Given that we have no cure for diseases like dementia, prevention is key," she says.</p>
<p>While very heavy drinking can damage the brain through deficiency in the vitamin thiamine, Topiwala says that "we don't know if this mechanism could also be relevant for lower intakes." Ethanol, aka alcohol, is "probably also directly toxic to brain cells," she says.</p>
<p>Jamie Alan, assistant professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University, tells Yahoo Life that the study results are "very interesting." Still, she points out, the finds are a correlation and not causation. Meaning it’s difficult to say whether it was the alcohol itself that reduced gray matter volume in the brains of certain people or something else entirely.</p>
<p>"It's not a surprise that ethanol can penetrate into all areas of the brain," Alan says. "I think the surprising part was that effects were seen with almost any dose of alcohol." The long-term impacts of alcohol on the brain are still being studied, Alan says. But, she notes, alcohol "can cause oxidative stress and cause inflammation," two factors that are related to disease, illness and the aging process.</p>
<p>Overall, Topiwala urges people to be aware of how alcohol could affect them. "People should be well informed of the potential risks in making their decisions about drinking," she says. "This includes awareness that drinking at lower levels may not be safe for the brain." And, she adds, "avoiding binge-drinking is sensible."</p>
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