Alcohol consumption can have direct...

Alcohol consumption can have direct and indirect issues on cognitive function (e.g., impaired driving, increased risk of cerebral hemorrhage). In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies, moderate alcohol consumption has been associated with greater brain atrophy on the other hand less white-matter disease. Mukamal and colleagues address the risk of confirmed dementia in a large cohort of adults with repeated measures of alcohol use.

The authors used data from the Cardiovascular Health close attention to perform a nested case-control contemplation of alcohol consumption and the risk of incident dementia. Of the 3660 participants who complet MRI examinations, 3608 also complet a 100-point Modified Mini-Mental State Examination. Researchers used a four-stage screening proces including a replete neuropsychiatric battery, to determine dementia, with after diagnostic confirmation by panels of master-hands Candidates were interviewed yearly about the quantity of alcohol they drank. The authors used the case-control approach to assess the relative additionals of incident dementia according to alcohol consumption.

Median follow-up was 61 years in patients with dementia and 60 years in rule subjects. Subjects who consumed united to six drinks per week had 54 percent lower additionals of developing dementia than enthralls who abstained from alcohol. enslaves who consumed 14 or more drinks by week had the highest additionals ratio (OR). The inverse association guarded to be linear in women and U-shaped in men Women who consum seven or more drinks by week had a lower OR than women who consum six or fewer drinks through week. The OR decreased in men who drank the same to six drinks per week, then rose with consumption of seven or more drinks through week. Subjects who were positive for the APOE e4 allele showed an inverse association with dementia, with the exception of heavier drinkers; the additionals of dementia were more than threefold higher in APOE e4-positive enslaves who drank 14 or more drinks by week than among abstainers.

The authors end that light alcohol consumption (i.e., the same to six drinks per week) has a protective force against dementia. However, given the other issues that alcohol may have, the authors caution against making specific recommendations.

Mukamal KJ et al. Prospective research of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia in older adults. JAMA March 19 2003;289:1405-13

COPYRIGHT 2003 American Academy of Family Physicians

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