The alcohol research has been a bit maddening in recent years—one study seems to tell us that moderate drinking is beneficial for health, and the next that it will kill us. A new study making the rounds appears to suggest that both heavy drinking and abstinence are linked to dementia over the years, while moderate drinking is linked to reduced risk.
There are a couple of reasons why we shouldn’t rejoice just yet: one is that the study may appear to show a trend that doesn’t totally exist. The second is to keep in mind that alcohol has been shown to cause a host of other health problems that are nothing to sneeze at. So moderate drinking may not be so “healthy” after all.
The study, published in the journal The British Medical Journal, used data the decades-long Whitehall II study of thousands of British civil servants. The team looked at people who entered the study in 1985, when they were between the ages of 35 and 55. They periodically reported on their drinking habits, along with other health and lifestyle variables. The outcome of interest was the development of dementia over the next two to three decades.
About 9,000 participants made up the final group, and of these, 400 developed dementia. The researchers were particularly interested in correlating long-term abstinence as well as decreased consumption over time with dementia risk.
It turned out that long term heavy consumption (defined as 14 or more units of alcohol/week) was linked to increased dementia risk (40% higher than moderate drinkers, defined as having 1-14 units/week). And for every seven units/week increase in consumption, there was an associated 17% increase in dementia. This is not so surprising.
But the researchers also found that long term abstinence was linked to increased risk of dementia—47% higher than those who drank moderately. Even reducing consumption over the years was linked to increased risk. These are the trends that have been interesting people.
There are some mechanisms that might explain why alcohol could theoretically help the brain. Its role in reducing inflammation and supporting blood vessel function and blood fats might explain it. Additionally, a study earlier this year found that moderate alcohol benefitted the b
