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Teetotalers, Frequent Drinkers Most Like to Suffer
Cognitive Impairment in Old Age
Sept. 3, 2004 Middle age people who drink several
times a month and non-drinkers are twice as likely to have mild
cognitive impairment in old age as are those who drink less than once a
month, according to a new British study.
Frequent alcohol drinking in midlife is linked to
mild mental (cognitive) impairment in old age, claims a study in this
week's BMJ.
The risk of dementia is also higher with heavier
drinking, but only among those carrying a particular gene (apolipoprotein
e4 allele) a known genetic risk factor for dementia, says the report
published this week in BMJ.
The study involved 1,018 men and women aged 65-79
years whose physical and mental health was monitored for an average of
23 years. Alcohol consumption was recorded and blood samples were taken
to determine apolipoprotein E genotypes.
Participants who drank no alcohol and those who
drank alcohol frequently (several times a month) were both twice as
likely to have mild cognitive impairment in old age than those who drank
infrequently (less than once a month).
Only carriers of the apolipoprotein e4 allele had
an increased risk of dementia with increasing alcohol consumption,
suggesting that this particular gene may modify the effect of alcohol on
the brain. These data indicate that frequent alcohol drinking has
harmful effects on the brain, and this may be more pronounced if there
is genetic susceptibility, say the authors.
Although these results agree with previous claims
that light to moderate drinking might have a protective effect on the
brain compared to total abstention and heavy drinking, the authors
stress that an explanation for this remains to be clarified.
"We therefore do not want to encourage people to
drink more alcohol in the belief that they are protecting themselves
against dementia," they conclude.
Click here to view full paper:
Pdf version -
http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/september/ppr539.pdf
HTML version -
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/329/7465/539?ehom
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