An unsuspected effect of moderate alcohol consumption during the holidays. What a new study shows
Moderate consumption of wine or beer during the holidays could significantly reduce the risk of dementia, a large new study suggests, suggesting that one or two glasses a day may have protective effects on the brain, regardless of the type of alcohol or when consumed.
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Researchers have found that low to moderate alcohol consumption lowers the risk of this disease by more than a third compared to total abstinence. The benefits were seen regardless of whether the alcohol was consumed alone or during meals. Also, the type of alcoholic drink did not seem to matter, writes the Daily Mail.
The findings contradict some previous studies which suggested that any amount of alcohol could increase the risk of dementia – the disease which is already the leading cause of death in the UK, ahead of heart disease and cancer.
Numerous studies have looked at the link between alcohol consumption and the risk of dementia. Some indicated that low, regular consumption might have a protective effect, while others found no benefit.
A major study earlier this year by Oxford University researchers concluded that alcohol has no positive effects on the brain. But the latest analysis, carried out by a team of experts at Soochow University in China, suggests that a daily glass could reduce the risk of dementia by up to 35%.
The researchers followed almost 300,000 people registered in the UK Biobank, a database of medical information on hundreds of thousands of Britons, created almost 20 years ago. They looked at drinking habits and correlated them with dementia diagnoses.
The results, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology, show that women and men who drink a few pints of beer or two to three small glasses of wine a day have a significantly lower risk of developing dementia compared to those who rarely or never drink.
Binge drinking – defined as more than three pints of strong beer or more than three large glasses of wine per day – had no impact on risk.
The researchers acknowledged that one possible explanation for these results is that many currently abstinent people were heavy drinkers in the past and are therefore already at higher risk, even if they have quit in the meantime.
However, they argue that it is possible that small doses of alcohol protect the brain from some damage that favors the onset of dementia. These include depression – a major risk factor for the condition in the elderly – as well as age-related decline in brain volume.
In the report, the researchers note: “Our findings have some implications for public health.
Low to moderate alcohol consumption could be considered as part of dementia prevention strategies in people who do not have liver disease and are not at risk of alcohol dependence.”
