yingwen

In older people with mild cognitive impairment,having a drink now and then -- up to an average of one drink of alcohol each day -- may delay progression to dementia,new research suggests.

"While many studies have assessed alcohol consumption and cognitive function in the elderly,this is the first study to look at how alcohol consumption affects the rate of progression of mild congnitive impairment to dementia, " study authors Dr. Vincentown Colorize and Dr.Francesco Panzer,from the University of Bare in Italy, said in a statement.

The participants were between 65 and 84 years of age at the start of the study,and they were followed for 3.5 years.Alcohol use was assessed before the survey.

Drinking was not associated the development of mild cognitive impairment,according to the report .However,once mild impairment occurred,subjects who had up to one drink per day of alcohol had an 85 percent reduced risk of dementia compared with who abstained.