New research finds that adults who abuse alcohol have more than double the risk for developing severe memory support issues in their later years.
According to HealthDay News, this recently published British study examined over 6,500 adults between 1931 and 1941 and studied their patterns of alcohol abuse and impaired brain health. Participants were observed initially in 1992, and then again every other year from 1996 to 2010. The researchers' conclusions, which were released in the July 30, 2014, edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, found that those with a history of alcohol-use disorders were more than twice as likely to suffer from severe memory problems.
"We already know that there is an association between dementia risk and levels of current alcohol consumption — that understanding is based on asking older people how much they drink and then observing whether they develop problems," said Dr. Ian Lang, the study's lead author, in a press release issued by the University of Exeter Medical School in England. "What we did here is investigate the relatively unknown association between having a drinking problem at any point in life and experiencing problems with memory later in life."
Although the study does not definitively prove a cause-and-effect relationship between memory erosion and excessive alcohol use, it does indicate a connection between the two. Additionally, Dr. Doug Brown, director of research and development for the England's Alzheimer's Society, adds that while abusing alcohol may impair cognitive thinking and memory support, small amounts of alcohol — such as an occasional glass of red wine — can have healthy, protective effects for the brain.
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