Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

Drinking one or two cocktails a day may protect against dementia, while having three or more could increase risk, new research suggests. Investigators assessed the risk of dementia using changes in alcohol consumption in nearly four million people in Korea and found that after about 7 years, dementia was 21% less likely in mild drinkers and 17% less likely in moderate drinkers. Heavy drinking was linked to an 8% increased risk of getting the disease.

The findings were published in JAMA Network Open on February 6. According to CNN, lead author Dr. Keun Hye Jeon, assistant professor at CHA Gumi Medical Center in Gumi, South Korea, said in an email:

“We found that maintaining mild to moderate alcohol consumption as well as reducing alcohol consumption from a heavy to a moderate level were associated with a decreased risk of dementia.”

The new study examined the health records of people covered by the Korean National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) who get free medical examinations twice a year if they are 40 years or older. The current study looked at data collected between 2009 and 2011 and categorized people by their self-reported drinking levels. If a person said they drank about 0.5 ounces daily, they were considered “mild” drinkers. If they consumed the equivalent of two standard drinks in the U.S. (a standard drink is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits), they were considered to be “moderate” drinkers. If the participants said they drank more than that, researchers considered them “heavy” drinkers

https://www.newsmax.com/health/health-news/alcohol-consumption-drinking/2023/02/09/id/1108060/

[removed]

[removed]

Does this one correct for all the sick and old people not drinking (or quitting) due to illness? In many studies it is a tricky variable to adjust for, I wonder if others think this one was done well

[deleted]

[removed]

[removed]

Interesting study, I wonder if they have any way to tease out the difference between drinking and people who are more social so they drink socially more often. I have a feeling it’s the connection and socializing that helps with dementia.

Exactly, doing the study on the Korea pop is a huge confound

It could be that those prone to dementia drink at a lower rate for whatever reason.

Maybe people prone to dementia are affected differently by alcohol and don't like its effects as much?

Sure would be good to know whether tha 20% of us who take 4x as long to clear alcohol from our bloodstream need to drink 75% less than the rest of you do to be considered moderate. For me that's 1/2 ounce of vodka (can't drink beer or wine).

Lack of social life?

I think you'd have to extrapolate based on this info and what you know about yourself/the 20%.

I'd imagine it's all tared down a bit for you, but somewhat proportional. What is considered mild/moderate drinking for you - and go from there.

Sure, or that alcohol causes more negative effects in those prone to dementia.

One drink makes me as drunk as four over four hours would a normal person, but I don't know whether that's doing the same damage as four alcoholic drinks.

Great point, so in theory the alcohol would have little effect and was just coincident with the higher social activity. Having said that I could still imagine a decent number of mild-moderate drinkers who are minimally social that would muddy that result somewhat.

I think dementia is a risk for my autoimmune disease. I've stopped drinking because of the inflammation it causes though. So, no.

What about I drink maybe 3 times a year?

I'm just gonna consider it a beer a day keeps dementia away

[deleted]

measuring alcohol in grams of consumption is perhaps more accurate as data but not particularly useful as information.

here is a calculator: https://www.nutritionheart.com/alcohol-drinks-grams-of-alcohol/

15g = roughly “one drink” (5oz wine, 12oz beer, 1.5oz of liquor). If youve ever served alcohol, its that unit that you were trained about.

> Exactly, doing the study on the Korea pop is a huge confound

Because... Koreans aren't people, or what's your argument?

[removed]

I think the reason low consumption of alcohol is good is because it increases social interaction which in turn decrease the stress hormone (cortisol?), a hormone which impairs the body to regenerate efficiently.

Also too much...it turns to damage, which is logical.

What about people who don't drink?

Believe it or not - straight to jail.