As usual, moderation wins the day -- with alcohol consumption.
ScienceDaily (July 13, 2009) — A glass of wine here, a nightcap there – new research out of Wake Forest University School of Medicine suggests that moderate alcohol intake offers long-term cognitive protection and reduces the risk of dementia in older adults.
While previous studies have shown that moderate alcohol intake, particularly wine, is linked with lower risk of heart attacks and dementia, most of the studies have been done in middle-aged people, and it has remained unclear if the benefits of alcohol also apply to older adults in general or to older adults who might already have some mild memory problems. This is the largest, longest U.S. study to look at the effects of regular alcohol intake on dementia in seniors, both with and without memory problems.
Moderate alcohol intake has been linked to lower risk of heart attacks, stroke, dementia, and death in middle-aged adults, but there is still controversy about alcohol intake in older adults."
Researchers found that individuals who had no cognitive impairment at the start of the study and drank eight to 14 alcoholic beverages per week, or one to two per day, experienced an average 37 percent reduction in risk of developing dementia compared to individuals who did not drink at all and were classified as abstainers. The type of alcohol consumed did not matter...In addition, those who were classified in the heavy drinker category, consuming more than 14 drinks per week, were almost twice as likely to develop dementia during the study compared to non-drinkers with mild cognitive impairment.
Regular Moderate Alcohol Intake Has Cognitive Benefits In Older Adults
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