Silent strokes are strokes in which the effects are too subtle to be noticed when they occurred.
White matter disease comprises tiny areas of age-related injury in the tissue that makes up most of the brain. Previous studies generally focused on heavy drinking or on symptomatic stroke. They assessed alcohol use by asking participants how often they had 12-ounces of beer, six ounces of wine or shots of liquor. As for white matter disease, light drinking was associated with less white matter disease, but moderately heavy drinking was associated with more white matter disease. Compared with non-drinkers, light drinkers were 32 percent less likely to have injured areas in their white matter.