However, the observed effect is a statistical connection that is shown in the retrospective data analysis, the researchers emphasize. It is not easy to derive causal statements from this. In order to get this, longitudinal studies are necessary, for example, whose participants are repeatedly examined as they age.
The link between alcohol consumption and brain loss does not appear to be linear, the researchers write. While a small glass of beer a day is equivalent to only half an additional year of life, drinking four glasses a day is already ten additional years. “It gets worse the more you drink,” says Remi Daviet of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, one of the researchers involved. There are some indications that the effect of alcohol could increase exponentially with increasing amounts. But that would also mean that those who drink the most benefit most from reducing their consumption.
The limit values above which the health risk for adults has been shown to increase are usually 12 grams of alcohol per day for women and 24 grams per day for men. The German Head Office for Addiction Questions, for example, calls these numbers. Since alcoholic beverages differ greatly in their percentage content, attempts are made to make them comparable by converting them into »standard drinks«. A standard drink contains around 10 grams of pure alcohol, although this amount is defined differently from country to country.