Moderate Drinking May Ward Off Dementia

Study: Nondrinkers' Risk Twice That Of Moderate Drinkers'

Older adults who like to kick back with a drink a few days a week may have a better chance of keeping their wits about them.

A study published in Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that adults over 65 who drink between one and six alcoholic beverages each week have a lower risk of dementia than either nondrinkers or heavier drinkers.

"We found that abstainers had odds of dementia that were about twice as high as the odds of 'moderate drinkers,'" said study leader Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. "Furthermore, those who drank 14 or more drinks per week also had a higher risk of dementia than the moderate drinkers."

In the study, researchers compared the alcohol consumption patterns of 373 dementia patients with 373 volunteers who did not have dementia.

They found that moderate drinkers have a 54 percent lower risk of dementia than the abstainers, while the heavier drinkers have a 22 percent higher risk of dementia than the abstainers, Mukamal said.

Heavier drinking was particularly linked to dementia among men, for whom the odds of dementia were doubled, the study found.

One theory behind these findings is that alcohol may be protecting against dementia by guarding against the development of cerebral arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

"There is a large body of literature concerning alcohol use and cognitive function, but to this point it hasn't been clear whether alcohol consumption is good, bad or neutral," Mukamal said. "This study for the first time looks at clinically diagnosed dementia in a large population of older adults who have more than one measurement of alcohol use."

But Mukamal doesn't recommend that older adults begin drinking moderately based on these findings alone.

"Older adults should discuss their alcohol use with their physicians and make appropriate decisions based on these discussions," he said.

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