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Alcohol and Alzheimer's Disease

While current studies consistently show that moderate amounts of red wine can decrease to a small degree the onset of Alzheimer’s Disease, the use of alcohol by someone with Alzhemer’s disease or by older adults can be highly problemmatic.
One study looked at binge drinking (defined as four or more drinks on one occasion) and followed more than 5,000 people ages 65 and older for eight years.
Dr. Iain Lang of Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom led the study.

  • He and his team found that participants “who reported (binge drinking) once a month were 62% more likely to experience the greatest declines in cognitive function and were 27% more likely to be in the group experiencing the highest amount of memory decline.”
  • Binge drinking twice a month more than doubles cognitive function decline (147%), and memory decline could increase more than fivefold (149%), according to Lang’s study.

Drinking is difficult to control for people with Alzheimer’s disease because they easily forget how much they had to drink.  If you or a loved one is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, it would be advisable to refrain from alcohol use.