It's not startling news, acknowledged study author Dr. Clinton B. Wright, an
assistant professor of neurology at the Columbia University College of Physicians
and Surgeons in New York City. Other studies have found similar results, most
notably one reported last year by a group led by Dr. Meir J. Stampfer that used
data from the Nurses Health Study.
This latest study was much smaller, gathering information on 2,215 residents
of northern Manhattan. Fifty-four percent of the participants were Hispanic,
25 percent were black, and 21 percent were white.
"The main thing that this study adds is that it had a population that includes
a large number of Hispanics," Wright said. "Data on only whites or other ethnic
groups is limited in value. It's good to have data from a multi-ethnic cohort."
Stampfer, who chairs the epidemiology department at the Harvard School of
Public Health in Boston, agreed. "This adds to the body of data coming from
diverse populations around the world," he said.
No statistical association between alcohol intake and mental function was
found among men in the study, probably because "only a small group of men were
never drinkers," Wright said.
A potentially important finding of the new study was the doubt it cast on
the theory that moderate alcohol intake helps preserve mental function by limiting
the buildup of fatty plaque deposits in the carotid artery, the main blood vessel
to the brain. Using ultrasound to image the carotid artery, the researchers
found no relationship between alcohol intake and the amount of plaque in the
artery.
One possible explanation is that alcohol improves the flow of blood in smaller
arteries, Wright said. The Columbia researchers plan further studies to explore
that possibility.
"Another possibility is that the amount of plaque is not the relevant factor," Wright
said. "The tendency to form clots or the tendency to inflammation might be more
important."
"Small arteries probably are important, and there might be other mechanisms
as well," Stampfer said. The results are no reason for nondrinking women to
sip a glass or two, Wright said. "I don't think anybody should change behavior
based on this study alone," he
said.
The standing advice of the American Heart Association and other bodies stands,
Stampfer said. For older men with no complicating issues, such as a prior drinking
problem, "a moderate, one or two drinks a day, regular intake of alcoholic beverages
is more likely to be beneficial than harmful, as long as nutrition is adequate," he
said.
The picture is more complicated for women because of an association between
drinking and breast cancer, Stampfer said. But "the net effect is toward benefit
for women as well," he said. "Moderate for women is up to one drink a day."
