Alzheimer's, Dementia & Mental Health
Senior Citizens See Almost 40% Drop in Dementia Risk
with Moderate Alcohol Drinking
Study of seniors age 75 and older confirms benefits
of alcohol in preventing dementia that had been proven for middle aged
adults
July 13, 2009 Previous research has shown that
moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages, especially wine, can reduce
the risk of dementia in middle aged adults. A new study presented today
finds the same is true for senior citizens. The moderate drinkers in
this study all age 75 or older saw their risk drop by 37 percent
over six years.
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The research reported today at the Alzheimer's
Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD
2009) in Vienna also looked at the impact of alcohol consumption on
older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and found alcohol
consumption to not be beneficial to these elderly.
Kaycee Sink, MD, MAS, Assistant Professor of
Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section on Gerontology
and Geriatric Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in
Winston-Salem, NC, and colleagues sought to determine the relationship
between alcohol intake and incident dementia in 3,069 community-living
adults aged 75 years and older without dementia.
Among the participants (mean age 79.1 yrs, 46%
women, 95% White), 2587 were cognitively normal and 482 had Mild
Cognitive Impairment (MCI) at the beginning of the study.
The participants were enrolled in the Ginkgo
Evaluation of Memory Study (GEMS), an NIH-sponsored study of ginkgo
biloba for prevention of dementia.
Alcohol consumption, which included all types of
alcohol, was self-reported by study participants and categorized as
● none,
● 1-7 (light),
● 8-14 (moderate), and
● 14 or more (heavy) drinks/week.
The distribution of alcohol consumption per week
was
● (none) 0 = 42.6%;
● (light) 1-7 = 38.2%;
● (moderate) 8-14 = 9.4%;
● (heavy) more than 14 = 9.8%.
Participants were examined every six months for up
to six years for changes in their memory or thinking abilities. If
someone was suspected of having developed Alzheimer's or another
dementia, they were thoroughly evaluated.
There were 523 news cases of dementia during the
follow up period of the study.
After adjustment for demographics, smoking,
co-morbidities, depression, social activity, and baseline cognition,
moderate alcohol intake (1-2 drinks per day) was associated with a 37%
lower risk of dementia in participants with normal cognition at
baseline, but not in those with MCI. (Note: This is updated data from
the researcher, which differs from the original abstract that reported
40 percent.)
For older adults who started the study with MCI,
consumption of alcohol at any amount was associated with faster rates of
cognitive decline; and those who were classified in the heavy drinker
category (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.
"Our findings suggest mild to moderate alcohol
intake may reduce the risk of dementia," Sink said.
"However, this does not appear to be true for those
who already have mild cognitive impairment.
Current recommendations not to exceed one drink
per day for women and two for men are supported by these results."
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Adjusted Hazard Ratios
(95% CI) for risk of incident dementia among normals (2587) and
MCI (482) |
|
Groups |
drinks per week |
normals |
MCI |
|
Abstainer |
(0) |
1.00 |
1.00 |
|
Light |
(1-7) |
0.89 (0.69 - 1.15) |
0.99 (0.70 - 1.39) |
|
Moderate |
(8-14) |
0.60 (0.37 - 0.97) |
0.96 (0.53 - 1.74) |
|
Heavy |
(>14) |
0.82 (0.52 - 1.28) |
1.84 (1.03 - 3.30) |
