Aging is inevitable -- and that's if we're lucky enough to live a life long enough for it to happen. Unfortunately for many, aging also means an increased likelihood of dementia or Alzheimer's disease, which are debilitating and heartbreaking both for the patient and for the people who love and care for them.
Protecting our brain health is crucial regardless of how old we are, and that means instilling good habits into everyday life, like exercising regularly, maintaining social connections and eating a healthy diet rich in antioxidants.
It also means breaking some bad habits, and there's one that neurologists say is crucial to preventing dementia and Alzheimer's. Find out what neurologists warn to quit doing by the time you hit retirement age in order to protect your precious mind.
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What You Should Stop Doing By Age 65 to Prevent Dementia, According to Neurologists
Our condolences to vinos and neckbeards, but drinking alcohol, whether it's red wine, beer or bathtub moonshine, is a no-no after age 65, neurologists advise.
"Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant drug which cause brain atrophy," Dr. Clifford Segil, DO, neurologist at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Parade. "Patients with dementia have baseline suppressed nervous system function with atrophy."
Essentially, brain atrophy is the loss of brain cells and the connections between them, and Dr. Segil breaks it down simply: "Common sense dictates giving a patient with slow brain function a substance that slows brain function down more is going to worsen dementia. Also, giving a substance which cause a brain to get smaller with chronic use like alcohol can only make dementia worse."
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How Does Alcohol Impact Brain Health?
In short: Booze absolutely doesn't do anything good, and it has potential to do a lot of bad when it comes to your brain health.
"Alcohol use can cause seizures or electrical problems in the brain, which in turn can cause it to short circuit," Dr. Segil says. "Alcohol use can cause neuropathies or fraying of people nerves in their hands and feet causing burning pains and numbness. There are no brain benefits to limited alcohol consumption and frequent alcohol consumption can only hurt your brain health."
If you were wondering if all those reports of the health benefits of red wine from the early aughts and 2010s are still valid, well, it's time to rip off the band-aid: It's neither good for heart, nor your liver nor your brain, and those are obviously three very important organs!
"There is a back and forth if light alcohol consumption can cause some health benefits, there are no claimed or reported brain health benefits to any alcohol consumption, even in small amounts," Dr. Segil advises.
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Can Alcohol Cause Alzheimer's Disease or Dementia?
The answer here is maybe: A September 2024 study of 75 patients with various stages of Alzheimer's disease indicated a potential link between alcoholism and later development of Alzheimer's disease, as well as alcohol use potentially exacerbating the illness in people who already have it. That said, it was a really small sample size, and plenty more research still needs to be done before anyone can definitively point to alcohol as a cause of Alzheimer's -- but it can likely be considered a risk factor to eventually developing the disease.
"What we've presented here is a differential analysis of two disorders that cause cognitive decline," says study author Dr. Arpita Joshi, PhD., a staff scientist at Scripps Research told SciTech Daily. "It deepens our understanding of Alzheimer's disease and what the three clinically defined stages of Alzheimer's entail, and it underscores the importance of considering alcohol use disorder as a risk factor for Alzheimer's."
The study's results don't surprise Dr. Segil in the slightest.
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"Alcohol use is a frequent medical comorbidity in many neurological diseases including memory loss, seizures, neuropathies and traumatic brain injuries," he explained. "Alcohol use can single handedly cause memory loss when used frequency independently of a person's cardiac health, smoking status or age."
Dr. Segil also emphasized that anyone can be impacted by alcohol abuse disorder and that it isn't restricted to members of any particular class or socioeconomic group: It's a disease and a medical condition, and we should eliminate the stigma around it so there's less shame associated with seeking treatment.
"Alcohol use is not a 'rich person' or 'poor person' disease and afflicts all independent of their social economic status," he said. "Alcohol use is a significant factor in the development of memory loss and dementia and I have treated countless patients whose dementia and memory loss has resolved when they have been able to stop drinking. Alcohol use is often a confounding factor in evaluating patients with memory loss, and its daily use can easily cause both old and young people to be confused."
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SourcesDr. Clifford Segil, DO"Transcriptional Patterns in Stages of Alzheimer's Disease Are Cell-Type-Specific and Partially Converge with the Effects of Alcohol Use Disorder in Humans" by Arpita Joshi, Federico Manuel Giorgi and Pietro Paolo Sanna, 19 September 2024, eNeuro.