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Alcohol and Stroke

In the September 2001 issue of Stroke magazine, Dr Kenneth Mukamal, who had previously reported on alcohol's effects on the heart, found that light to moderate alcohol consumption is associated with fewer brain lesions and so-called silent strokes. Dr. Mukamal wrote that as a blood thinner, alcohol improves blood circulation in the brain and offers protection from silent strokes caused by tiny blood clots.

In the study, 3,376 people aged over 65 were given MRIs to determine their overall brain health. Dr. Mukamal broke the test subjects down into six groups: abstainers, former drinkers, very light drinkers (less than one drink a week), light drinkers (one to six drinks a week), moderate drinkers (seven to 14 drinks a week) and heavy drinkers (more than 15 drinks a week).

The results showed that light and moderate drinkers had the fewest white-matter lesions; heavy drinkers had the most. The fewest signs of silent strokes were suffered by heavy drinkers, followed by light and moderate drinkers, but the heavy drinkers were also more likely to have brain atrophy. "Overall, we found that non-drinkers have the most strokes and white matter disease. Light to moderate drinkers have fewer strokes and the least amount of white matter disease, but somewhat greater atrophy. Moderately heavy drinkers had the fewest strokes but more white matter disease and the most atrophy."

Another study to highlight the brain as well as heart health was conducted by Dr. Monique M. B. Breteler of the Erasmus University Medical School in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The study found that "light to moderate alcohol consumption reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke." The six-year study followed 7,983 individuals aged 55 years and older and determined that the effect was the same regardless as to the source of alcohol.

The researchers believe the results may be due to one or both of two reasons: 1) the ethanol in the alcohol might thin the blood and lower cholesterol, thereby reducing the chance of vascular dementia; 2) alcohol may release acetylcholine in the hippocampus, an area of the brain that facilitates learning and memory. Moderation, according to the study, is defined as one to three drinks a day.

Alcohol and Brain Function

Alcohol may not only be good for the heart. The noggin may benefit as well.

A study conducted by Dr. Guiseppe Zuccala of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome found that moderate alcohol use may protect the brain from mental decline associated with aging. In the report published in the December 2001 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research, Dr. Zuccala studied the mental abilities and alcohol use of nearly 16,000 Italian men and women over the age of 65: approximately 8,700 regular drinkers, and 7,000 non-drinkers. Moderate use of alcohol was associated with a 40 percent lower risk of mental impairment. Dr. Zuccala postulated that the reasons for the difference may be alcohol's beneficial effects on blood pressure and blood flow or perhaps the slowing of arterial disease.

At Indiana University in the United States, medical geneticist Dr. Joe Christian observed 4,000 male twins for 20 years to determine if moderate drinking affected the brain. He administered psychological tests to the brothers at ages 66 and 76 and found no harm done from moderate drinking. It turns out that brothers who drank moderately--one to two drinks a day--scored higher on mental skills tests than those who drank less than one drink a day or more than two drinks. Moderate drinking was deemed helpful in improving memory, problem solving and reasoning ability.

As part of the ambitious Nurses' Health Study at Harvard University, another paper by Dr. Meir Stampfer, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2001, determined that moderate drinking of alcohol seemed to preserve the mental abilities of older women. From 1995 to 1999, Dr. Stampfer interviewed over 9,000 women between the ages of 70-79. He measured their mental functions using seven different tests and collected information about their alcohol use in 1980, which was updated through 1994. The results showed that women who drank moderately had significantly better scores on five of the seven tests, as well on a global score that combined the seven tests.