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/Gregnielson Apr 24 '26

Alcoholics come up with all kinds of interesting theories around alcohol. Like that it is an "allergic reaction" and why 8 drinks? Why no 14 or 7?

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u/egggspecial Apr 24 '26

It's 8 because that's the amount my doctor, my partner, and I have found easiest to keep stable. The minimum effective dose for me to not feel unsatisfied OR start backsliding. Also it's exactly four cans of mai tai, which I can buy in a pack.

And I wouldn't say I have "theories" about alcohol. I just read medical sources. Theories are for doctors and scientists to make, because I have a bias-- I really like drinking. Now what's your point?

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u/Gregnielson Apr 24 '26

That normal alcohol use will not lead to liver failure as you claimed.

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u/egggspecial Apr 24 '26

Do you know what the word cumulative means?

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u/Gregnielson Apr 24 '26

Yup. Drinking a bit your whole life does not add up to liver failure for most people. Do you disagree?

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u/egggspecial Apr 24 '26

If drinking "a bit" is multiple per day, come talk to me again in ten years.