Researchers at Kobe University in Japan found that the more people drink, the more obvious the aging of cells. This means that they are at higher risk for age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia.
At the 40th annual meeting of the American Institute of Alcoholics Research, the researchers said that the study involved 255 volunteers, of whom 134 were alcoholics at the hospital and 121 were age-matched but non-alcoholic control groups. All volunteers were between 41 and 85 years old. The researchers collected volunteer chromosome samples to understand their drinking history and drinking habits. The results showed that the telomere shortened in alcoholics. The telomere is located at the end of the chromosome, acting as a "protective cap" that protects both ends of the shoelace from wear. As the cells continue to divide and age, the telomeres will slowly become shorter. Therefore, the telomere length is used as an important indicator to determine the degree of cell aging. The more severe the aging, the shorter the telomere.
The American Daily Science website quoted researchers as saying: "Our research shows that people with alcoholics have shorter telomeres, which means that heavy drinking can cause biological aging at the cellular level."
The researchers also found that telomere shortening was associated with thiamine deficiency. Previous studies have shown that thiamine deficiency can cause nerve damage, such as organic forgotten syndrome. Symptoms include recent amnesia, temporal and spatial disorientation. Author: Huang Min