Drinking alcohol is definitely not recommended by doctors around the world. However, as always, it is the quantity that makes the poison, although recently it was found that the consumption of the substance can slow the rate of growth in the developing brain for teenagers and young adults.
In a paper, researchers from Oxford Population Health presented the results of a new genetic analysis that suggests that alcohol directly accelerates aging damaging the DNA in the telomeres. “Alcohol, especially at excessive levels, directly affects telomere length. Shortened telomeres have been proposed as risk factors that can cause a number of serious age-related diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease“, say the experts on the new study.
In case of constant consumption, also reduce the amounts absorbed it could have important benefits (but which are the least dangerous spirits for health?).
Telomeres, on the other hand, are DNA sequences that can be found at the end of chromosomes and their length is considered an indicator of biological aging. The researchers used a genetic approach called “Mendelian randomization (MR)“to study the association between alcohol intake and telomere length of 245,000 people.
“Compared to consuming less than 6 units of alcohol per week (approximately two large 250ml glasses of wine), consuming more than 29 units per week (approximately ten 250ml glasses of 14% alcohol by volume wine) an age-related change in telomere length between one and two years has been associated.” The discovery does not show a causal link with certaintybut it adds to an ever-growing scientific literature on alcohol-related problems.