Alcohol Consumption and Brain Function (3 Feb 05)

An article in last week's New England Journal of Medicine found a 20% reduction in cognitive decline over 2 years in a group of women aged 70-81 consuming one alcoholic drink per day, compared to non-drinkers and those imbibing 2 or more times. This is just one in a long line of articles showing the same kind of thing. The reason is not known, but suspected to be related to protection of arteries in moderate drinkers, who also have fewer strokes and heart attacks. If we had to generalize based on evidence, one or two drinks a day is beneficial; none or more is not. Obviously, if you have a tendency to abuse alcohol, you'd be better off with none.

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