Moderate drinking could be beneficial for those with early-stage neurodegenerative disorder

A Danish study has shown a link between drinking two-to-three units of alcohol a day and a reduced risk of death among those with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

As previous studies have shown a link between moderate drinking and a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, the team of researchers wanted to investigate whether the same potential health benefit existed for those with mild Alzheimer's disease, or whether instead, as alcohol is known to damage brain cells, drinking would be harmful to those with the neurogenerative disorder. 

The team collected data from 321 people with early-stage Alzheimer's disease as part of the Danish Alzheimer's Intervention Study (DAISY), which assessed the health benefits of a 12-month program of psychosocial counselling and support, and then tracked patients' progress for the following three years.

Data collected included information on how much alcohol participants drank every day.

Participants' reports showed that around one in 10 (8%) drank no alcohol; most of the participants (71%) drank one or fewer units a day; 17% drank two-to-three units a day; and around one in 20 (4%) drank more than three units daily.

During the 3-year follow-up period, 53 of the participants, (16.5%) died.

After analyzing the results and taking into account other lifestyle factors, the team concluded that drinking two-to-three units of alcohol every day was associated with a 77% reduced risk of death compared with drinking one or fewer daily units.

However those drinking no alcohol and those drinking more than three units every day showed no difference in mortality rates than those drinking one or fewer daily units daily.

The team suggested several theories to explain the findings.

Moderate drinking could lower the risk of death as it is linked to a richer social life, which has been previously linked to a better quality, and longer life.

Another explanation from the team is that participants who were drinking very little were already in the terminal phase of their life, causing a bias in the results.

Or that moderate amounts of alcohol have the same protective health benefits in Alzheimer patients as they have already been shown to have in healthy patients.

However the team did caution that at the moment they cannot advise for or against moderate drinking in patients with mild Alzheimer's and further research is needed into the effect of alcohol on the disease.

The study was published in the online journal BMJ Open.