This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
News
Wine could cut risk of death from dementia by 77%
Danish scientists have claimed that moderate drinking could help lower the risk of death by dementia and Alzheimer’s by 77%, following a three year study.
According to researchers at the University of Southern Denmark Odense, a pint of beer or medium glass of wine a day could help protect against an early death from Alzheimer’s.
The study, published in the online journal BMJ Open, analysed alcohol consumption among 321 people with early stage Alzheimer’s disease as part of the Danish Alzheimer’s Intervention Study (DAISY).
It found that those who drank moderately, between two to three units a day, had lower death rates than those who were teetotal, drank a unit or less or drank more. While there was no significant difference in death rates among those drinking the most or fewest units, the risk of dying dropped by 77% for those who drank the equivalent of a glass of wine a day, between two to three units a day.
“The results of our study point towards a potential, positive association of moderate alcohol consumption on mortality in patients with Alzheimer’s disease,” said lead author Professor Frans Boch Waldorff, of the University of Southern Denmark Odense. “However, we cannot solely, on the basis of this study, either encourage or advise against moderate alcohol consumption in these patients.”
While alcohol is known to damage brain cells, and that it would be easy to that alcohol could be damaging to those with dementia or Alzheimer’s, Dr Sine Berntsen of the University of Copenhagen said this assumption requires further research.
“It has been argued that social drinking may be harmful for patients with AD”, he said. “However, we have not been able to identify any studies on the association between alcohol consumption and mortality in patients diagnosed with dementia. Considering that AD is a neurodegenerative disorder and that alcohol has known neurotoxic effects, one could easily jump to the conclusion that alcohol is damaging for patients with AD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the positive association between moderate alcohol intake and mortality shown in population-based studies on healthy subjects can be transferred to patients with mild AD.”
Current guidelines suggest that women should drink no more than 2-3 units per day, and men 3-4, however the government is considering lowering these levels.
Yet another completely flawed report and study!
It is no good classing “alcohol” as a single drink. Good natural wine is full of natural anti oxidants that help combat dementia, cancer, stroke, heart attack and a huge variety of other illnesses. Real beer also has some health benefits. Whereas mass produced highly manipulated wine contains virtually nothing beneficial and is actually harmful as the excessive amounts of sulphites cause cancer. It is the same for mass produced beers.
Until these scientists stop focusing on the alcohol and start focusing on everything else in the drinks we will continue to get a rollercoaster of conflicting results.