Drinking while aging could come with scary side effects to the brain

In a new study published in the journal BMJ, scientists linked moderate or heavy drinking to early symptoms of memory loss.

Light drinking wasn't a big concern.

The study looked at the records of around 500 British people and, starting at the average age of 43, had them record their drinking habits and take some cognitive tests.

They brought them back for additional tests and found that moderate to heavy drinkers scored worse than light or non-drinkers on a language fluency test, which involved listing off as many words as possible starting with a specific letter.

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Brain scans were also taken and showed heavy drinkers showed early warning signs of dementia.

The British study defined moderate drinking as the U.S. equivalent of 8-12 glasses of wine or beers a week.

So the lesson here is you can drink and still be healthy, just don't overdo it.

U.S. guidelines advise 1 drink a day for women and 2 drinks a day for men.

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