Study: Association between alcohol consumption and incidence of dementia in current drinkers: linear and non-linear mendelian randomization analysis . Image Credit: jiris / Shutterstock In a recent study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine , researchers investigated whether raising the consumption of alcohol causes the risk of developing dementia to increase among individuals who currently drink. Their findings indicate that predicted alcohol consumption based on genetic factors increases, so does dementia risk, challenging previous knowledge and suggesting that no amount of alcohol is safe when it comes to dementia prevention.
Background By 2050, the global number of individuals living with dementia is projected to rise to nearly 153 million from over 57 million in 2019, highlighting the urgent need for prevention strategies. While heavy drinking is a known risk factor for dementia, the effects of consuming light-to-moderate levels of alcohol are still debated. Previous studies are often biased by factors like "abstainer bias," which occurs when people who either quit drinking or choose not to drink due to poor health are compared to drinkers, potentially skewing the results.
These studies may also fail to account for cognitive declines that occur earlier in life or interactions with other health conditions, leading to mixed evidence about whether light-to-moderate alcohol consumption lowers dementia risk. Past studies have used genetic data to mimic a randomized tria.