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Drinking Alcohol, Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

by David J. Hanson, Ph.D.

Scientific research has demonstrated that the moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages (beer, wine and spirits) reduces the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.  Following are summaries of research studies along with links to additional information about each.

 

A study published in Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that people with mild cognitive impairment who had up to one drink of alcohol a day developed dementia at an 85 percent slower rate than people with mild cognitive impairment who were teetotalers (abstainers or non-drinkers).

See A Drink a Day May Delay Dementia 

Research on 7,469 women age 65 and older found that those who consumed up to three drinks of beer, wine or liquor per day scored significantly better than non-drinkers on global cognitive function, including such things as concentration, memory, abstract reasoning, and language.

See Moderate Alcohol Consumption & Better Cognitive Function in Women

Drinking alcohol (beer, wine or liquor) in moderation is one of the strategies that can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in later life, according to a review of the existing research on how dementia can be reduced. Abstaining from alcohol and abusing alcohol are both risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia.

Reducing the risk of dementia would help contain health care costs and reduce the emotional burden of care giving. It would also promote enhanced quality of later life.

See Moderate Drinking of Alcohol Reduces Dementia Risk

A study of  12,480 older women over time found that those who consumed alcohol moderately on a daily basis were about 20% less likely than abstainers to experience poor memory and decreased thinking abilities as they aged. It didn’t matter whether the women drank beer, wine, or liquor (distilled spirits). The positive effects of the alcoholic beverages were all the same.

See Drinking Alcohol Good for Memory and Thinking

A study of about 6,000 people age 65 and older found that moderate drinkers of beer, wine or spirits had a 54% lower chance of developing dementia than abstainers. The research was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

See Alcohol and Dementia 

Researchers studied 7,983 people aged 55 of age or older over an average period of six years. Those who consumed one to three drinks of beer, wine or distilled spirits per day had a significantly lower risk of dementia (including Alzheimer's) than did abstainers.

See Drinking Alcohol and Dementia/Alzheimer’s Disease 

A study of people who were at least 75 years old tracked their health for a period of six years. Researchers found that drinkers were only half as likely to develop dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, as similarly-aged abstainers from alcohol.

See Drinking Alcohol May Reduce Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease

A study of older women found that those who drank alcohol in moderation (defined as consuming up to two drinks of beer, wine or spirits per day) performed better on memory tests than did abstainers. The performance memory tests included such things as remembering a story, route, hidden objects, future intentions and connecting random numbers and letters. In all cases, the group who drank alcoholic beverages scored better than those who did not drink.

See Moderate Alcohol Drinking Helps Memory 

A study of 1,018 men and women age 65-79 whose physical and mental health was monitored for an average of 23 years found that “drinking no alcohol, or too much, increases risk of cognitive impairment,” in the words of the editor of the British Medical Journal, which published the study.

See Drinking Alcohol Helps Brain Cognition 

A long-term study of over 6,000 Britons established in 1967 found that consumers of beer, wine or spirits performed significantly better on tests of cognitive functioning than teetotalers. For example, abstainers were twice as likely as occasional drinkers to receive the lowest test scores. The beneficial mental effects of alcohol were found when a person drinks up to about 30 drinks per week, and increased with consumption. The researchers did not test the effects of higher levels of alcohol drinking.

Dr. Guy Ratcliffe, the Medical Director of the Medical Council on Alcohol, said that “this is a well-researched study, and it’s important that information such as this is available so that people can make informed decisions about alcohol consumption.”

See Drinking Alcohol Improves Brain Functioning

Moderate alcohol consumption protects older persons from the development of cognitive impairment, conclude researchers who studied 15,807 Italians 65 years of age and older. Among the drinkers only 19% showed signs of mental impairment compared to 29% of the abstainers.

See Drinking Alcohol in Moderation Reduces Cognitive Impairment

An 18-year study of Japanese American men found "a positive association between moderate alcohol intake among middle-aged men and subsequent cognitive performance in later life." Moderate drinkers scored significantly higher on the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI), which includes tests of attention, concentration, orientation, memory, and language. Both nondrinkers and heavy drinkers had the lowest CASI scores.

See Moderate Drinking of Alcohol Improves Later Cognition

Moderate consumption of alcohol was associated with superior mental function among older women compared to abstaining according to a study of over 9,000 women aged 70 to 79 over a 14-year period of time. The women's mental function was assessed with seven different tests. After adjusting for other factors that might affect mental function, the researchers found that the women who drank in moderation performed significantly better on five of seven tests. They also performed significantly better on a global score that combined all seven tests.

See Moderate Alcohol Drinking Beneficial to Mental Functioning

Over a thousand persons age 65 and older were studied over a period of seven years. The study took into consideration such factors as age, sex, education, depression, smoking, general mental status. Overall, light and moderate drinkers experienced less mental decline than did non-drinkers.

Alcohol might lead to better mental function by improving cardiovascular health, in turn leading to better blood circulation in the brain. It might also have a beneficial effect on the neurotransmitters or chemical messengers in the brain.

See Drinking Alcohol and Mental Functioning

Other Research

A large study of the effects of alcohol consumption on men over a period of 18 years  found that abstainers and heavy drinkers had the poorest cognitive ability. Moderate alcohol consumption was associated with the highest cognitive performance later in life. 1  A study in France found that moderate alcohol consumption was associated with higher cognitive function among women over time. Moderate drinkers were 2.5 times more likely to receive the highest cognitive ability scores than were non-drinkers. 2

Two large studies in Australia  of people age 20 to 64 found that moderate drinkers performed better than abstainers on all measures of cognitive ability. 3

Research has found the risks of Alzheimer's disease to be as much as 75% lower among drinkers than among non-drinkers. One study of found that people who drank regularly, including those who consumed in excess of U.S. recommend levels, had a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s disease than did non-drinkers. 4 A three-year prospective study in France found that moderate drinkers were significantly less likely than non-drinkers to develop either dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. 5

A review of existing research to identify how dementia can be reduced found that that both abstaining from alcohol and abusing it are risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia. 6

 

Source:
  • 1. Galanis, D. J., et al.  A longitudinal study of drinking and cognitive performance in elderly Japanese American men: the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study. American Journal of Public Health, 90(8), 1254-1259.
  • 2. Dufouil, C., et al. Sex Differences in the Association between Alcohol Consumption and Cognitive Performance. American Journal of Epidemiology, 146(5), 405-412.
  • 3. Rodgers, B., et al. Non-linear relationships between cognitive function and alcohol consumption in young, middle-aged and older adults: The PATH Through Life Project. Addiction, 2005, 100(9), 1280-1290; Anstey, K. J., et al. Lower cognitive test scores observed in alcohol are associated with demographic, personality, and biological factors: The PATH Through Life Project. Addiction, 2005, 100(9), 1291-1301.
  • 4. Cupples, L.A., Effects of smoking, alcohol and APOE genotype on Alzheimer disease: The MIRAGE study. Alzheimer Report, 2000, 3, 105-114.
  • 5. Orgogozo J.M., et al.  Wine consumption and dementia in the elderly: a prospective community study in the Bordeaux area. Revue Neurologique (Paris). 1997, 153(3),185-92.
  • 6. Andel, R.,  et al.  Strategies to reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia.  Aging Health, 2005, 1(1),107-116.

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