Experts warn ‘modest’ intake of this drink could boost dementia risk
Dementia is one of the most pressing public health challenges of our time, affecting an estimated one in every three people.
Some research has pointed to specific protective habits against the neurodegenerative disease, from reaching a certain daily step count to engaging in a strange fart habit.
But while there is encouraging evidence that the shingles vaccine may offer some protection against the disease, medical experts are warning about everyday lifestyle choices that could quietly raise the risk.
Turns out, one item many people have in their fridge right now may be working against them.
Advert
A growing body of research is drawing a troubling link between regular alcohol consumption and an increased risk of dementia.
A 2023 peer-reviewed study from Atrium Health used what researchers described as a 'chronic drinking approach,' allowing mice to choose freely between water and alcohol over ten weeks.
The team studied the link between alcohol intake and the development of Alzheimer's disease, which accounts for 60% to 80% of dementia cases. It turns out, even 'modest amounts' of alcohol had the capacity to 'accelerate brain atrophy,' including the deterioration of brain tissue and a rise in amyloid plaques, the harmful proteins closely associated with Alzheimer's.
"These findings suggest alcohol might accelerate the pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages," said Associate Professor Shannon Macauley, of Wake Forest University School of Medicine. "These preclinical findings suggest that even moderate consumption of alcohol can result in brain injury. Alcohol consumption may be a modifiable risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia."
The results weren't just identified in mice either.
Scientists at Oxford University analysed the brain scans of 40,000 people and rated alcohol among the worst offenders for weakening cognitive health and worsening the risk of Alzheimer's.
Professor Gwenaëlle Douaud, who led the study, explained: "We know that a constellation of brain regions degenerates earlier in ageing, and in this new study we have shown that these specific parts of the brain are most vulnerable to diabetes, traffic-related air pollution − increasingly a major player in dementia − and alcohol, of all the common risk factors for dementia.
"We have found that several variations in the genome influence this brain network, and they are implicated in cardiovascular deaths, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as with the two antigens of a little-known blood group, the elusive XG antigen system, which was an entirely new and unexpected finding."
The NHS recommends that both men and women consume no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, spread across three or more days rather than consumed in one or two sittings.
For those looking to reduce their intake, building in several alcohol-free days each week is a good place to start, the NHS reported.