Daily drinking keeps Dementia away

According to a recent study, older people who continue to drink a glass of alcohol everyday are less likely to develop dementia. Dementia is a loss of brain function that occurs with certain diseases. It affects memory, thinking, language, judgment, and behavior.

Scientists found that pensioners, 75 or over, who like a pint of beer, glass of wine or a reviving tot, are helping to stave off senility.

They are 30 per cent less likely to develop dementia and 40 per cent less likely to suffer Alzheimer's than those who don't drink.

Some 3,200 older Germans attending GPs and free of dementia, were studied and checked 18 months and three years later.

"Some 217 met criteria for dementia during follow-up," they said.

The beneficial statistics of drinking alcohol then emerged. It suggests light to moderate consumption is inversely related to dementia incidence.

"Elderly folk handle alcohol more responsibly than the young and may derive greater health benefits from moderate drinking," Dr Harvey Finkel, of Boston University, said about the findings.

"Age is not a reason for abstinence," he stated.