BMJ  2004;329 (4 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7465.0-b

Drinking no alcohol, or too much, increases the risk of cognitive impairment

Alcohol drinking habits in middle age affect the risk of cognitive impairment in old age. In Finland, Anttila and colleagues (p 539) re-examined 1464 men and women aged 65-79 after an average follow up of 23 years, and found that participants who drank no alcohol in midlife as well as those who drank alcohol frequently were twice as likely to have mild cognitive impairment in old age than those who drank alcohol infrequently. People who were carriers of the apolipoprotein e4 allele had an increased risk of dementia with increasing alcohol consumption.

Credit: CLIVE BARDA/TOPFOTO

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

Relevant Article

Alcohol drinking in middle age and subsequent risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in old age: a prospective population based study

Tiia Anttila, Eeva-Liisa Helkala, Matti Viitanen, Ingemar Kåreholt, Laura Fratiglioni, Bengt Winblad, Hilkka Soininen, Jaakko Tuomilehto, Aulikki Nissinen, and Miia Kivipelto
BMJ 2004 329: 539. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]