In a unusual result from a study, consumption of alcohol was found to have warded off an early death in some patients of Alzheimer’s disease, making experts speculate on possible reason behind it.
Advertisement
It’s already believed to cut the risk of stroke and heart disease – and now scientists say drinking a glass of wine a day may cut the risk of dying from dementia.
“The effect of low or moderate alcohol intake on the brain is still being understood and current research is not conclusive as to how it may affect cognitive decline or dementia”.
Henry Brodaty, co-director of the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at the University of NSW, urges caution about accepting the implication that we should drink several drink a day to reduce mortality.
The researchers noted that the results “point towards a potential, positive association of moderate alcohol consumption on mortality in patients with Alzheimer’s disease”.
“However, we have not been able to identify any studies on the association between alcohol consumption and mortality in patients diagnosed with dementia”.
Around one in 10 (8%) drank no alcohol and at the other end of the scale, around one in 20 (4%) drank more than three units daily.
Those who drank moderately of between two to three units had lower death rates than those who were teetotal, drank a unit or less or drank more.
Obviously, then, the new study-which has been published in the British Medical Journal, reinforces the potential health benefits of alcohol. The research doesn’t establish a link between alcohol consumption and preventing death with Alzheimer’s patients.
During the three-year follow-up period, 53 of the participants, (16.5 percent) died.
A new small study shows that having a few drinks a day is associated with a much lower risk of death for Alzheimer’s patients, compared with those who drink more, less or not at all.
“Considering Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disorder and that alcohol has known neurotoxic effects, one could easily jump to the conclusion alcohol is damaging for patients”.
The level of alcohol consumed was split into four categories, these were: no alcohol, up to one unit per day, two to three units per day (a moderate level), or more than units a day.
One more possibility as to why moderate drinking could have protective effect in people with Alzheimer’s is people who drink are more social and it helps living longer.
Advertisement
The results held true after taking account of a range of factors including gender, age, other underlying conditions, educational attainment, smoking and MMSE result. Inversely it has also been proven that an active social network can improve both the quality of length and the length of one’s life.
