Appearing in the journal JAMA Network Open, a group of researchers claims that light alcohol consumption might have some benefit for cognitive health during middle and late adulthood.
The new research used data from the Health and Retirement Study, which involved more than 19,000 participants, most were women. The data was derived from 1996 through 2008 and assessed any association between alcohol consumption and cognitive function.
The findings determined that low-to-moderate alcohol consumption, or eight to 14 drinks per week, might have some benefit for combating the risk of cognitive decline.
“Current low to moderate alcohol consumption among middle-aged or older adults may be associated with better total cognitive function,” the co-authors claimed in their findings.
“Our study contributed further evidence that among a nationally representative sample of middle-aged or older adults, low-to-moderate drinking was associated with the protection of cognitive functions that may decrease with age.”
The study was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award UL1TR002378.
