DEMENTIA/COGNITIVE FUNCTION

Dufouil C et al Sex differences in the association between alcohol consumption and cognitive performance.AM J EPIDEMIOL 1997;146:405-12.

Wine drinking was associated with better cognitive scores in older women.

At the initial enrollment from June 1991 to July 1993 for the Epidemiology of

Vascular Aging Study, 1389 men and women aged 59 - 71 years were recruited in the city of Nantes in western France. Psychologists administered ten neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive functioning. Alcohol intake, obtained during the baseline face-to-face interview, mostly resulted from wine drinking.

In men, none of the psychological test scores was significantly associated with drinking habits. "In contrast, among women with a range of daily alcohol consumption between zero and approximately four drinks, we found an overall positive linear association between cognitive scores and alcohol consumption."

 Orgogozo J et al Wine consumption and dementia in the elderly: a prospectivecommunity study in the Bordeaux area. REV NEUROL 1997;153:185-92.

Moderate wine drinkers experienced a lower incidence of dementia than non-drinkers.

French men and women aged 65 years and older, who live around the city of Bordeaux, are the subjects of a prospective survey known as the PAQUID Study which is an effort to identify risk factors for the prediction of cognitive loss from dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Subjects were classified as non-drinkers (no more than one drink per week), mild (at least two drinks per week but no more than two "standard glasses" per day), moderate (three to four glasses per day) or heavy (five glasses or more per day). One "standard glass of wine" was defined as 125 ml. Wine, beer and liquor were recorded separately but wine was the only alcoholic beverage reported by more than 95 % of regular drinkers. Cognitive function of a final sample of 2,273 subjects was assessed at three years follow-up by a battery of psychometric tests.

Statistically significant less dementia and Alzheimer's disease as determined by logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, level of education, occupation and baseline cognitive status was noted as follows for moderate drinkers compared to non drinkers: odds ratio 0.19 (95% CI 0.05-0.66) and 0.28 (95% CI 0.08-0.99) respectively. Multiple adjustments done by multivariate models further confirmed the findings were not due to known confounders such as body mass index, self-perceived health, use of psychotropic drugs, mental depression, family status or diabetes. Mild wine consumption showed a statistically significant inverse relationship with Alzheimer's disease at odds ratio of 0.55 (95% CI 0.31-0.99).

Additionally, this study confirmed again the known reduction of overall mortality in wine drinkers by demonstrating odds ratio of 0.69 (95% CI=0.54-0.88) for mild and 0.66 (95% CI = 0.46-0.85) for moderate wine drinkers compared to abstainers over the three year study period. 

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