Recent research done by neurologist Carol Ann Paul showed how brains size is affected by alcohol consumption. The research turned up interesting and highly controversial results.

The research took data from the Framingham Study, a long-term medical research project that followed residents of the town of Framingham, Massachusetts since 1948. Several years ago, the Framingham researchers took brain scans of people in the community who ranged in age from 34 to 88 years.

The 1800 people included in the study were divided into 5 groups:

• non-drinkers
• former drinkers
• low volume drinkers
• moderate drinkers
• heavy drinkers

The researchers measured total cranial volumes and the amount of space the subjects’ brains occupied inside their skulls. Brains normally get slightly smaller as people age, but Paul found the consumption of alcohol accelerated this process, even when she took other factors into account. And she says the more alcohol subjects drank, the more brain volume they lost.

There was no study to determine whether the shrinkage caused decreased brain function.

The Brazilian brewery Ambev, also known as  Companhia de Bebidas das Americas, has been taken to court and lost against a former employee who claims they were responsible for his alcoholism. The man complained that he was not provided adequate health care during the more than 10 years he had worked with the company. This lack of provision, according to the lawsuit, led him to become an alcoholic, unable to function without alcohol, years after he had severed ties with the corporation.

An initial ruling had favored Ambev but a recent appeal has awarded the case to the man.

During his employment with the brewery, the employee drank between 16 and 25 small glasses of beer during each eight hour shift at the company, and was also given a bottle of beer at the end of each shift. The man claims his drinking has worsened in recent years and, years after he had stopped being a taster, he was still hooked on alcohol and had developed a dependency.

The company defended their position by maintaining that the man was already an alcoholic before he took on the job as a beer taster. While the tasting ruling acknowledged that, the judge also added that the company was still negligent because an alcoholic should never have been employed as a beer taster in the first place.

Word to the wise, if you have alcoholic tendencies, don’t seek out a similar job.

Source: FoxNews