Millions of people suffer from dementia. It’s a cruel disease for both victims and their loved ones. There’s much medical evidence that moderate drinking of alcohol lowers dementia risk.

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Alcohol Lowers Dementia Risk

The Study

Researchers studied 3,069 adults. They were aged 75 years and older without dementia when enrolled. At the start of the study, 2,587 were cognitively normal. A total of 482 had mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Researchers examined subjects every six months for up to six years. They looked for changes in their memory or thinking abilities.

The Findings

The researchers adjusted for age, race, smoking, and other diseases. Also for depression, social activity, and baseline cognition.

They found having one or two drinks daily was linked with a 37% lower risk of dementia. This was in those with normal cognition at the beginning of the study. But they did not find a reduction among those who began the study with mild cognitive impairment.

Head researcher was Dr. Kaycee Sink of Wake Forest U School of Medicine. “Our findings suggest mild to moderate alcohol intake may reduce the risk of dementia,” Dr. Sink said. “However, this does not appear to be true for those who already have mild cognitive impairment.” Thus, drinking before impairment begins appears to be wise.

Beer, wine, and spirits (liquor) are equally effective.

• • This site gives no advice.