Alcohol has a dramatic impact on your biological age Heres how

By adding extra stress to your body and depriving it of the nutrients it needs to rebuild, alcohol can place you years ahead in the aging process, and affect how you look. Research examining the impact of alcohol consumption over a long period of time, as well as binge drinking, on biological aging has been limited. According to a Northwestern Medicine study published in the journal Aging, scientists found that consuming certain types of alcohol over long periods of time as well as binge drinking both speed up biological aging. They studied beer, wine, liquor and “total alcohol” (sum of the three alcoholic beverages consumed by an individual). What’s not so well known is the effect of alcohol consumption on biological aging, specifically binge drinking, long-term drinking and type of drinks — such as beer, wine or liquor. That is changing thanks to Northwestern Medicine research.

• That damage can, in turn, contribute to diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative illnesses and other age-related conditions you want to avoid.
• And again, that’s just two cans or pints of beer, which will sound like a trivial amount to many drinkers.
• Researchers are not entirely sure how alcohol accelerates aging as drinking has myriad negative effects on the body, from dehydration to neurological changes in the brain and damage to vital organs such as the liver.
• You may have noticed as you get older, you’re more sensitive to alcohol—you may feel intoxicated faster and with less alcohol, or have worse hangovers, or just respond differently to alcohol than you did in the past.
• Alcohol misuse can also lead to high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia), or increased heart rate.

How Excessive Alcohol Consumption Ages the Mind and Body

Alcohol intervenes with how your brain sends signals to cells, mostly through neurotransmitters. Over time, alcohol consumption can increase susceptibility to age-related brain pathologies and disease (8,9). The findings proved to be the tip of the iceberg for researchers looking at how alcohol affects our brain.

Is it safe to consume a glass of wine regularly?

Not only will alcohol make conditions like hypertension and diabetes worse, but it also mixes poorly with the medications typically used to treat those conditions. As you get older, the effects of alcohol can become dangerous. People over 65 need to be careful when they drink alcohol. One of the best things we can do to protect our health and longevity is to drink less alcohol.

It Can Change How Your Meds Work

Drinking increases the risk of myopathy or muscle wasting. Heavy alcohol use raises the risk for fractures and even low levels of alcohol intake increase the odds for recurrent gout attacks. Alcohol also impairs bone https://ecosoberhouse.com/ fracture repair and reduces bone density.

Health & Wellness Tips

Discover options that fit your schedule, protect your privacy, and don’t require time off work. Alcohol decreases absorption and increases excretion of several nutrients – B-complex vitamins and zinc – that your skin uses for cell turnover and barrier repair. Don’t fall for the belief that you’re too old to learn something new. Take dance lessons, experiment with a musical instrument, or enroll in a community college course. You’ve likely amassed years of skills and experience during your life and career that can be passed to benefit the younger generation. Reach out to youth groups, community centers, local colleges, or volunteer groups to find mentorship opportunities in your area.

In 2017, she completed a DPhil in Psychiatry based on the MRC-funded study “Predicting MRI abnormalities with longitudinal data of the Whitehall II Substudy”. In 2019, Topiwala was awarded a Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Career Development Fellowship to investigate the effect of mechanistic pathways through which alcohol consumption impacts brain health. It all seems to be harmful and, again, the more you drink, the worse it is,” Topiwala concludes.

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They may be less mobile and can’t get out to socialise as much, or because they’re mourning the loss of a loved one. Your liver processes alcohol, and too much alcohol can cause damage to your liver. That means alcohol stays in your liver for longer and can cause more harm. As you get older, your body becomes less able to cope with alcohol. That’s partly because some of your does drinking alcohol age you muscle is replaced by fat.

Alcohol also increases oxidative stress and the production of harmful free radicals, which can break down collagen (the skin’s main structural protein) and lead to loss of elasticity. A breakdown in collagen and elasticity can make the skin saggier over time, and make fine lines and wrinkles more noticeable. Heavy drinkers are more likely to have anxiety and depression than people who drink less. For some, it may be that depression and anxiety drive them to drink. For others, drinking too much may lead to depression and anxiety. And no one, regardless of Alcoholics Anonymous health or socioeconomic status, was immune to the effects of more than one drink a day.