A 2-year follow-up study of alcohol consumption and risk of dementia.
BACKGROUND
This report focused on investigating the relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia in elderly people through prospective studies.


METHODS
We conducted a 2-year follow-up study of elderly people from six communities in Chongqing, China. Dementia was detected using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III-R). The relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia was investigated using multiple logistic regression models, adjusting for the potential confounders age, sex, educational level and cigarette smoking.


RESULTS
Light-to-moderate drinking was associated with a significantly lower risk of dementia compared with non-drinking. Excessive drinking was related to a higher risk of dementia. The effect of light-to-moderate drinking seemed most prominent among vascular dementia, 0.63 (0.55-0.72) for Alzheimer's disease, 0.31 (0.19-0.51) for vascular dementia and 0.45 (0.12-1.69) for other dementia. In a model adjusting for confounding variables, a light-to-moderate intake of beer was associated with a significantly higher risk of dementia than a non-drinker of beer. For wine, a significantly lower risk of dementia existed for a light-to-moderate drinker.


CONCLUSIONS
Light-to-moderate drinking was associated with a significantly lower risk of dementia compared with a non-drinker.
Deng
Juan
J
2nd Department of Neurology, Research Institute of Surgery and Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400042, China.
Zhou
David H D
DH
Li
Jingcheng
J
Wang
Y John
YJ
Gao
Changyue
C
Chen
Man'e
M
D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003704:Dementia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index