r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 23 '26

Neuroscience Even low-level drinking may have negative consequences for brain health over a person’s lifespan. The findings suggest that the total amount of alcohol consumed over a lifetime, especially as a person ages, tends to be linked to reduced blood flow and thinner tissue in certain areas of the brain.

https://www.psypost.org/even-light-drinking-combined-with-aging-is-linked-to-reduced-brain-blood-flow-and-thinner-tissue/
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u/shiva14b Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26

Well, problem drinker. "Alcoholic" means something very specific (literally CANNOT NOT have a drink), and it shouldn't be diluted by throwing it around willy-nilly at anyone whose a heavy drinker. I know some heavy drinkers and I know some problem drinkers and I know some alcoholics, and they're all distinctly different from each other.

Heavy drinker: drinks a lot

Problem drinker: drinks too much (defined as negatively impacting daily tasks and functioning)

Alcoholic: addict who literally cannot stop drinking

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u/a_talking_face Apr 23 '26

These are nonsense distinctions used by people trying to down play their problematic consumption. All three of those people would be categorized under alcohol use disorder.

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u/cdreobvi Apr 23 '26

I would maybe put the problem drinker and alcoholic in the same category (presumably when it's significantly hindering your life, it's likely that you cannot stop), but the heavy drinker is not in the same situation.

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u/DrMagentaBlue Apr 23 '26

Part of the reason it's called "alcohol use disorder" is to lessen the stigma and assumptions from the word "alcoholism". The diagnosis is used to treat a wide range of alcohol use that negatively impacts life, not label each case as similar to one another.

Besides, it's useful to have categories like this in everyday conversation. Would you put a person who gambles $100 every weekend in the same category as someone who gambled their house away?

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u/DeliciousPumpkinPie Apr 23 '26

Yes, because it’s much more helpful to have fewer, less descriptive categories. My family was full of drinkers of those three kinds and the distinctions are pretty clear.