CITIZENS COMPASS– DRINKING beer every night may lower your risk of dementia, scientists claim.
Australian researchers studied the drinking habits and dementia rates among 25,000 over-60s.
Results showed people who drank the equivalent of two pints a day were a third less likely to get the memory-robbing condition than teetotalers.
However, experts noted that while moderate alcohol consumption may stave off the cruel disorder, excessive drinking is dangerous.
With global dementia rates set to triple over the next 30 years, Dr Louise Mewton and colleagues said it is ‘fundamental’ to scale back on the risky habits that could contribute to the rise.
Experts previously estimated that four in 10 dementia cases worldwide could be prevented or delayed if risk factors were eliminated.
Obesity is one of the biggest risk factors.
The team, from the University of New South Wales, gathered data from 15 old studies.
They contained data on the alcohol drinking habits and dementia rates of 24,478 over-60s.
The cohort was divided into teetotalers, occasional drinkers (1.3g of ethanol per day), light to moderate drinkers (1.3g to 25g per day), moderate to heavy drinkers (25g to 45g per day) and heavy drinkers (more than 45g per day).
For comparison, one pint of beer contains around 16 grams of ethanol, while a medium-sized glass of wine has around 18g.
None of the participants — who were followed for up to 40 years — had dementia at the start of the study.
Over the course of the study, 2,124 people were diagnosed with dementia, according to the findings, published in the journal Addiction.
When compared to teetotalers, occasional and light to moderate drinkers were 22 percent less likely to develop the condition.
And those who consumed up to two-and-a-half pints a day had a 38 percent reduced risk of being diagnosed compared to non-drinkers.
