Heavy Drinkers At Risk for Stroke Earlier in Life

LILLE, FrancePeople who consume three or more alcoholic drinks a day may be at higher risk for experiencing a stroke almost a decade and a half earlier in life than non-heavy drinkers, according to a new study published in the journal Neurology.

Researches at the University of Lille Nord de France conducted a study to indentify the effects of heavy alcohol use on the timeline of stroke and the long-term outcome for individuals. For the study, 540 people with an average age of 71 who had a type of stroke called intracerebral hemorrhage were interviewed about their drinking habits. Doctors also interviewed the participants or the caregivers or relatives about the participants' drinking habits. A total of 137 people, or 25%, were heavy drinkers, which was defined as having three or more drinks per day, or about 1.6 ounces per day of "pure" alcohol. Participants also underwent CT brain scans and their medical records were reviewed.

They found heavy drinkers experienced a stroke at an average age of 60, 14 years before the average age of their non-heavy drinking counterparts. Among people younger than 60 who had a stroke that occurred in the deep part of the brain, heavy drinkers were more likely to die within two years of the study follow-up than non-heavy drinkers.

Interestingly, a 2010 study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found resveratrol, an active polyphenol compound found in red wine, may have neuroprotective effects that could mitigate brain damage related to stroke. The authors suggest resveratrol itself may not be shielding brain cells from free radical damage directly, but instead, resveratrol, and its metabolites, may be prompting the cells to defend themselves.