Heavy drinking linked to strokes many years earlier, new study finds

A new study suggests that pouring a third drink could mean trouble for your brain. 

Harvard researchers have found that people who drink three or more alcoholic drinks a day may suffer a stroke more than a decade earlier than people who drink less.

The research — which was published this week in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology — links heavy drinking to not just earlier strokes, but also larger, deadlier brain bleeds and long-term brain damage.

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The study analyzed data from 1,600 adults averaging 75 years of age who were hospitalized for intracerebral hemorrhage, a type of stroke caused by bleeding inside the brain. 

During their hospital stay, participants were asked about their drinking habits, either directly or through family members.

Of the 1,600 participants, about 7% were classified as heavy drinkers.

The researchers defined heavy drinking as having three or more drinks daily, where one drink equals a 12-ounce beer, a 5-ounce glass of wine or a 1.5-ounce shot of liquor.

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Brain scans revealed the severity of the bleeds and whether patients showed signs of cerebral small vessel disease, a condition that damages tiny blood vessels in the brain and is linked to aging, high blood pressure and dementia.

Heavy drinkers experienced brain bleeds at an average age of 64, compared to 75 for non-heavy drinkers, an 11-year gap. Their brain bleeds were also 70% larger on average.

Heavy drinkers were also twice as likely to have bleeding deep in the brain and nearly twice as likely to have bleeding that spread into the brain’s fluid-filled spaces, a serious complication called intraventricular extension, the study found.

Additionally, they were three times more likely to have severe white matter damage, which is linked to long-term cognitive decline and brain aging.

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While alcohol has previously been tied to stroke risk, this research shows it may also accelerate small vessel disease, making the brain more vulnerable to severe strokes and slower recovery, according to lead author Dr. M. Edip Gurol of Harvard University.

“Reducing heavy alcohol use may not only lower a person’s risk of bleeding stroke, but it may also slow the progression of cerebral small vessel disease, which in turn may reduce the chances of having another stroke, cognitive decline and long-term disability,” Gurol said in a press release.

“Heavier drinking is also associated with high blood pressure, which is a contributing factor for this type of stroke.”

Jennifer Tujague, chief scientist at the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD) in Washington, D.C., was not involved in the study but shared her reactions with Fox News Digital.

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“These results appear to be consistent with previous epidemiological studies that have found an increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke associated with heavier drinking levels,” she said.

“Heavier drinking is also associated with high blood pressure, which is a contributing factor for this type of stroke.”

There were some limitations to the study, the authors noted, including that it was a cross-sectional study design, which means it looked at data from a single point in time rather than following people over a longer period.

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Due to that, researchers can’t say for sure whether drinking caused the strokes or just made them worse. 

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Alcohol use was also self-reported, meaning people might have underestimated or overestimated how much they drank. Lifetime drinking habits also weren’t available.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Distilled Spirits Council for comment.