The study found that alcohol accelerates biological ageing by shortening DNA telomeres, the direct indicator of biological age.
In the study it is found that excessive alcohol drinking directly affects telomere length. (Creative Commons)
A study by the University of Oxford published in Nature found that alcohol accelerates biological ageing by causing damage to the chromosomes.
The study finds that telomeres, the repetitive DNA sequences that protect the ends of the chromosomes, are directly affected by excessive alcohol consumption.
The telomeres’ length indicates a person’s biological ageing, and when they become too short, the cells can no longer divide, eventually leading to cell death.
Cardiologist from Hyderabad Dr Prashant Rao told South First, “Findings from this new study should make us understand that alcohol is not the solution for anything and everything in life.”
Dr Rao added, “Alcohol is also related to conditions such as high blood pressure, heart failure and stroke. It also increases your risk of developing an enlarged heart.”
“You cannot forget that it also causes liver damage and neurological complications such as Alzheimer’s,” he said.
The researchers investigated the association between alcohol consumption and telomere length in over 2,45,354 participants in the United Kingdom Biobank.
They used genetic variants previously associated with alcohol consumption and alcohol-use disorders in large-scale genome-wide association studies.
They found a significant association between high alcohol intake and shorter telomere length.
“Drinking more than 29 units weekly (about 10 250 ml glasses of 14 percent alcohol by volume wine) was associated with one to two years of age-related change in the telomere length,” says the study.
“While individuals who had been diagnosed with an alcohol-use disorder had significantly shorter telomere lengths equivalent to three to six years of age-related change,” it said.
The study also found that telomere length change was only significant for those drinking more than 17 units per week (about six 250ml glasses of 14 percent alcohol by volume wine).
It means that crossing a certain level of alcohol consumption leads to telomere damage.
However, the effect of drinking alcohol on biological ageing was seen only in those subjects who were consuming alcohol at the moment.
The effect was not seen in those who used to drink in the past or those who never drank.
“Though there are many health issues like Alzheimer’s that are caused by genetic factors, changing our lifestyle and stopping or reducing drinking can help us improve our health in many ways, including slowing down our ageing,” said Dr Rao.
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