The More Alcohol You Drink, The Sooner You May Get Sick

The More Alcohol You Drink, The Sooner You May Get Sick - The more people drink, the quicker their cells age, says a new study.

This finding places heavy drinkers at a higher risk of age-related illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and dementia.

The research carried out by Naruhisa Yamaki and his team from Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan.

Researchers recruited patients seeking alcoholism treatment as well as non-alcoholics ranging from 41 to 85 years old.

After collecting their DNA and getting their drinking habits and histories the results showed that alcoholic patients had shorter telomeres.

What are Telomeres?

Telomeres are protein caps at the ends of human chromosomes and they are markers of ageing and overall health.

Yamaki explained that every time a cell replicates, a small piece of telomere is lost, so they naturally get shorter with age.

However, some people may have shorter telomeres for reasons other than ageing.

The results of the study suggests that heavy drinking can cause shorter telomeres and therefore biological ageing at a cellular level.