Age is the biggest risk factor for dementia, meaning the longer a person lives, the more time there is for dementia to develop.
According to the Alzheimer’s Society, for people aged between 65 and 69, around two in every 100 people have dementia.
This risk then increases as a person ages, roughly doubling every five years thereafter. For those aged over 90, around 33 in every 100 people have dementia.
Research has found that key lifestyle habits can have a great impact on a person’s risk of developing dementia in later life – with alcohol abstinence showing a surprising connection.
A new study by researchers at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia and published in the Journal Addiction, investigated how abstaining from alcohol affects dementia risk.
Researchers further investigated 15 studies including data from 24,478 participants analysing a possible link between alcohol consumption and dementia.
Participants were divided into non-drinkers, occasional drinkers (1.3g of ethanol per day), light to moderate drinkers (1.3g to 25g per day), moderate to heavy drinkers (25g to 45g per day) and heavy drinkers (more than 45g per day).
How much alcohol is recommended a day?
They noted that people who abstained from drinking were more likely to develop dementia as seen in 2,124 participants and concluded that moderate drinking could help boost brain health.
When it came to the number of drinks, researchers found the sweet spot of around two pints of beer a day noting those participants were a third less likely to develop dementia than abstainers.
This conclusion was also noted in a 2002 Dutch study that found that one to three drinks per day could reduce dementia risk in people 55 and older.
“The increased risk associated with abstaining was evident in subsamples of both males and females, as well as in both former drinkers and life-time abstainers,” noted the research.
“Among current drinkers in the general population, there was no consistent evidence to suggest that the amount of alcohol consumed in later life was significantly associated with dementia risk.
“While the current findings are relevant to the majority of older drinkers in the general population, the current study does not provide evidence on the relationships between dementia risk and heavier drinking or alcohol use disorder which are relatively rare in the general population.”
According to the NHS, men and women are advised to not drink more than 14 units of alcohol per week, on a regular basis.
Eat more fish to ward off dementia
In other news, the power of fish has yet again been proven to be one of the best foods to help with brain health.
The latest study of 2,200 Americans found that eating fish in middle age (40s and 50s) helped to improve problem solving, improves the brains learning capabilities and wards of memory loss.
Researchers attribute fish’s omega-3 fatty acids for its positive brain health benefits with fish such as salmon, mackerel, herring and sardines among some of the best.
Previous research has also found that eating fish twice a week could reduce dementia risk by 41% compared to those who never eat fish.
Commenting on the study, Dr Sara Imarisio, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said: “As the saying goes, ‘You are what you eat’, and just like other parts of the body our brains can be affected by the way we live our lives, including our diet.
“Research into omega-3 and brain health has produced mixed results and while this study adds to the evidence base, it is exploratory and not conclusive.’
“What we do know is that a healthy brain in midlife is important for brain health in later life too and that a healthy diet overall is important in reducing dementia risk.”
