Latest Scientific News
Updated information about scientific approaches and research field.
Thursday, 27 August 2020 09:24
Wine, beer or spirits – is there a difference?
Science often tries to prove that moderate drinkers live longer and also without or fewer chronic diseases. British researchers examined whether – besides healthy lifestyle factors - the type of alcoholic beverage also may play a role. More than 500,000 participants (age 40-69 years) were followed up for seven years. Their consumption of alcoholic beverages was self-reported as pints of beer/cider, glasses of champagne/white wine, glasses of red wine and measures of spirits per week (*). While the risk of…
Thursday, 27 August 2020 09:21
Moderate wine consumption in the context of other lifestyle factors
The research group from the University of Navarra have recently published two additional studies relating to the SUN (Seguimiento Universidad de Navarra) study. The first study investigated several lifestyle factors and all-cause mortality risk in more than 20,000 participants who were followed up for 10.8 years. A 10-point healthy lifestyle score (HLS) was assigned to the following lifestyle-related factors (some of them less-studied): never smoking, moderate-to-high physical activity, moderate-to-high Mediterranean diet adherence, healthy body mass index, moderate alcohol consumption, avoidance…
Thursday, 27 August 2020 09:09
Combined benefits of Mediterranean diet and drinking pattern better than individual?
In this large prospective study, the combined effects of the Mediterranean diet and Mediterranean alcohol drinking pattern was not significantly higher than their individual effects, however, a low adherence to both was associated with two-fold higher rates of all-cause mortality compared to subjects with a high adherence to both patterns. The association was similar for cancer and cardiovascular mortality. The health benefits of the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) have been widely studied. Controversy remains, however, for one of its main components:…
Friday, 03 July 2020 10:46
J-shaped relationship between moderate drinking and risk of dementia
For the first time, a meta-analysis has been conducted to systematically evaluate the relationship between moderate consumption of alcoholic beverages and the risk of mild cognitive impairment (MCI = state between normal aging and dementia) and the progression to dementia (PDM). A non-linear (J-shaped) dose-response association between alcohol intake and the risk of progressing to dementia was observed. Excessive drinking (> 16 drinks/week, or 27.5g/day) was related to a higher risk of PDM, whereas light and moderate drinkers had a…
Friday, 03 July 2020 10:45
Moderate drinking may improve mental decline in elderly adults
Studies examining the association of low to moderate drinking with various cognitive functions have yielded mixed findings. The current study investigated whether a relationship exists between low to moderate drinking of alcoholic beverages and cognitive function or changes in cognitive function from middle age to older age among US adults. This prospective Health and Retirement Study counted almost 20.000 participants who were followed up for 9 years. The study participants (average age 62 years) were predominantly white and women. They…