Dementia

Cognitive function is an intellectual process by which we become aware of, perceive, or comprehend ideas. It involves all aspects of perception, thinking, reasoning, and remembering.Infanthood and early childhood are the periods in life where most individuals are able to absorb and use new information the best. The capacity to learn normally slows down with age, but the overall cognitive function should not decline on a large scale in healthy individuals. Cognitive dysfunction is defined as an unusually poor mental function associated with confusion, forgetfulness and difficulty to concentrate. Factors such as ageing and disease may affect cognitive function over time. Growing evidence supports the role of vascular disease and vascular risk factors in cognitive decline, Alzheimer's Disease and dementia.

 

Dementia is a form of cognitive impairment where an individual loses the ability to think, remember and reason due to physical changes in the brain. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a form of dementia. AD and other types of dementia are most common in the elderly, and are associated with huge health costs. With a rapidly aging population throughout the world, factors that affect the risk of cognitive decline and dementia are of great importance. Recently, insulin resistance and hyperinsulineamia, the precursors of type 2 diabetes have been linked to an increased risk of cognitive impairment.

 

The moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages has consistently been associated with a decreased cardiovascular risk, so it may be hypothesized that this cardiovascular protection could also decrease vascular dementia and cognitive decline because alcohol might improve blood flow in the brain and prevent the deposit of plaques . Even though chronic abuse of alcoholic beverages can cause progressive neurodegenerative disease, many studies have suggested that a moderate intake is associated with a lower risk of dementia or cognitive impairment.

 

At present, there are no proven pharmaceutical drugs and therapies to prevent or treat cognitive decline or dementia, although a number of prospective epidemiologic studies have shown a lower risk of such conditions among light to moderate drinkers of wine and other alcoholic beverages in comparison with non-drinkers.  When the effect of different alcoholic beverages was examined, the results indicated that only moderate wine consumption was independently associated with better performance on all cognitive tests in both men and women. 

In the literature, there are many mechanisms proposed to explain these results. Wine may affect the risk factors for ischemic processes and stroke positively. It has been suggested that the antioxidant properties of the phenolic compounds in wine may help to prevent the oxidative damage implicated in dementia. Oxidative stress is thought to be involved in Alzheimer’s Disease by the formation of amyloid-ß protein and DNA damage in neurons in the brain. Resveratrol with its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects may also play a role.  In addition, alcohol increases the levels of HDL cholesterol and fibrinolytic factors resulting in a lower platelet aggregation. Furthermore, moderate consumption of wine and other alcoholic beverages enhances insulin sensitivity and consequently, may improve the memory function in subjects with early AD or mild cognitive impairment.

 

It is also possible that the beneficial effects of moderate drinking noted in studies might just be a marker for an overall healthy lifestyle. The Mediterranean diet with whole grains, fresh fruit and vegetables, olive oil and moderate red wine also reduces the risk of dementia, as does exercise, social engagement, mental activities and an optimistic outlook on life.

 

Experimental animal studies indicated that the phenolic compounds in wine were able to prevent the formation of plaques that are associated with the development of AD and other forms of dementia.

 

The above summary provides an overview of the topic, for more details and specific questions, please refer to the articles in the database.

 

 

 

 

BACKGROUND: Alcohol use disorders have been categorized as a 'strongly modifiable' risk factor for dementia. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the cross-sectional association between alcohol consumption and cognition in older adults and if it is different across sexes or depends on amyloid-beta (Abeta) accumulation in the brain. METHODS: Cognitively unimpaired older adults (N = 4387) with objective and subjective cognitive assessments and amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) imaging were classified into four categories based on their average daily alcohol use. Multivariable linear regression was then used to test the main effects and interactions with sex and Abeta levels. RESULTS: Individuals who reported no alcohol consumption had lower scores on the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite (PACC) compared to those consuming one or two…
OBJECTIVE: Alcohol drinking and tobacco smoking have impacts on lifestyle-related diseases, but their association with dementia remains a debated topic. This study aimed to examine longitudinal associations between alcohol consumption, smoking, and dementia risk in middle-aged and older Japanese people. METHODS: This study used a cohort design with an 8-year follow-up. Participants were community-dwelling Japanese people (N = 13,802) aged 40-74 years. The baseline survey, including a self-administered questionnaire, was conducted in 2011-2013. Predictors were alcohol consumption and tobacco smoking. The outcome was incident dementia obtained from a long-term care insurance database. Covariates were demographics, lifestyle factors, body mass index, general health status, and history of stroke, diabetes, and depression. RESULTS: Participant mean age was 59.0 years. The 1-149, 150-299,…
IMPORTANCE: The impact of serial changes in alcohol consumption on dementia risk has rarely been investigated to date. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association of comprehensive patterns of changes in alcohol consumption with the incidence of all-cause dementia, Alzheimer disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD). DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This is a retrospective cohort study. Data were obtained from the Korean National Health Insurance Service database. Adults aged 40 years and older underwent 2 health examinations in 2009 and 2011. The cohort was assessed until December 31, 2018, and statistical analysis was performed in December 2021. EXPOSURES: Alcohol consumption level was categorized into none (0 g per day), mild (/=30 g per day) drinking. On the basis of changes in alcohol…
BACKGROUND: The identification of effective dementia prevention strategies is a major public health priority, due to the enormous and growing societal cost of this condition. Consumption of a Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) has been proposed to reduce dementia risk. However, current evidence is inconclusive and is typically derived from small cohorts with limited dementia cases. Additionally, few studies have explored the interaction between diet and genetic risk of dementia. METHODS: We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to explore the associations between MedDiet adherence, defined using two different scores (Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener [MEDAS] continuous and Mediterranean diet Pyramid [PYRAMID] scores), and incident all-cause dementia risk in 60,298 participants from UK Biobank, followed for an average 9.1 years. The interaction between…
BACKGROUND: Previous studies on associations of alcohol use with memory decline showed inconclusive results. We examined these associations using longitudinal data from the Guangzhou Biobank Cohort Study (GBCS) and explored whether these associations varied by sex and age group. METHODS: Memory function was assessed by delayed 10-word recall test (DWRT) and immediate 10-word recall test (IWRT) at both baseline (2003-2008) and follow-up (2008-2012) examinations, expressed as the mean annual change and mean annual rate of change in scores. Memory cognitive impairment was defined by DWRT scores of less than 4. Multivariable linear regression models and restricted cubic spline were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Of 14,827 participants without memory cognitive impairment at baseline, 90.2% were never or occasional drinkers, 5%…
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