Heavy social drinkers show a pattern of brain damage similar to that seen in alcoholics who need hospital care, research has found. US researchers found people who down more than 100 drinks a month suffer memory loss, reduced intelligence, poor balance and impaired mental agility. However, they warn most have no idea that they need treatment. The research was published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. The scientists, from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and the University of California, San Francisco, scanned the brains of 46 heavy social drinkers and 52 light drinkers.
