A new study published in the journal Neurology finds that heavy drinkers—those who consume three or more alcoholic beverages a day—may experience a bleeding stroke about 11 years earlier and with greater severity than people who drink lightly or not at all.
Researchers analysed data from 1,600 adults hospitalised for intracerebral haemorrhage, the deadliest type of stroke caused by bleeding in the brain.
Up to 50 per cent of people with this condition die, and 30 per cent are left severely disabled. Only 20 per cent of those who experience a brain bleed are able to care for themselves independently one year later.
People who regularly drank three or more alcoholic beverages per day had strokes at an average age of 64, compared with 75 for non-heavy drinkers.
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Their brain bleeds were also 70 per cent larger on average, twice as likely to occur in deep brain regions, and spread into the brain’s fluid-filled spaces, a complication that typically indicates poorer recovery and health outcomes.
Brain scans revealed that heavy drinkers were three times more likely to show signs of brain ageing and white matter damage.
Even those who consumed two drinks per day had a significantly higher risk of suffering a brain bleed at a younger age.
“Reducing heavy alcohol use may not only lower a person’s risk of bleeding stroke, it may also slow the progression of cerebral small vessel disease, which in turn may reduce the chances of having another stroke, cognitive decline and long-term disability,” the lead researcher said.
