Errrrrr....I can`t believe my luck!
Posted on 03/18/2003 11:12:49 PM PST by FairOpinion
MODERATE drinking may protect against the onset of mental illness in the elderly, according to new research.
A long-term study of more than 700 people, aged 65 and over, found that moderate drinkers had a much lower risk of developing mental health problems than either heavy drinkers or teetotallers.
Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre in Boston, USA, reported that subjects drinking six units or less a week were 54 per cent less likely to develop either Alzheimer's disease or a milder form of dementia than the teetotallers.
The benefits of drinking did top out at a certain point though, with heavy drinkers (defined as anyone drinking 14 units or more a week) said to be 22 per cent more likely to develop dementia than their non-drinking peers.
"The results demonstrated a distinct 'U-shaped relationship'," said Kenneth Mukamal, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and lead author on the study.
He speculated that alcohol might ward off dementia by guarding against the development of the hardening of arteries or blood vessels supplying the brain.
The study results are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Errrrrr....I can`t believe my luck!
You never know where your are or how you got there after a couple of kegers.
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