Alcohol intake and cognitive decline in a middle-aged cohort

The association between alcohol intake and cognitive decline has been widely studied. Sex differences and cognitive domains affected by alcohol intake patterns make this topic overly complex. Researchers in Brazil investigated the effect of alcohol intake on cognition of middle-aged cohort.
7,595 participants from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health aged between 50 to 75 years at baseline were assessed during four years of follow up. Semantic and phonemic fluency, memory, and executive functions were assessed at baseline (2008-2010) and repeated during Visit 2. The study investigated the association between cognition and current abstainers, never drinkers, light drinkers, moderate drinkers, and heavy drinkers. Heavy alcohol intake accentuated the decline in executive functions for men, and in semantic fluency and memory for women. Never drinker’s men also showed an accentuated decline in semantic fluency. Moderate alcohol intake slowed cognitive decline in phonemic fluency for men and women and in executive functions for women.
Having more than 14 drinks per week can impact executive functions in men and memory in women. In addition, alcohol consumption of 7 to 14 drinks per week may have a protective effect on gender-specific cognitive functions. These findings should be considered in public health policies and guidelines on alcohol and cognitive aging, the authors say.
Source: Salvador L, Giatti L, Viana MCet al.. Sex differences in the association between alcohol intake and cognitive decline over four years in a middle-aged cohort: the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health. Eur J Neurol. 2022 Mar 9.