Raise a glass and cut dementia risk

28/08/2009

Daily Express

By: Presswatch

Raise a glass and cut dementia risk

A drink or two a day could help ward off dementia, according to new research. Light to moderate alcohol consumption has been found to cut the chances of older people developing the condition by more than a quarter. Research team leader Dr Kaarin Anstey said: "we found that light to moderate drinkers were 28 per cent less likely to develop Alzheimer's than non-drinkers, 25 per cent less likely to develop vascular dementia and 26 per cent less likely to develop any dementia." The Centre for Mental Health Research at the Australian National University analysed the results of several research projects involving some 10,000 people globally. The centre's report, published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, found that the benefits of modest drinking in reducing dementia risk were the same for men and women.