Cheers to that! How a Christmas tipple could stop you getting dementia

This is an excuse to pull out another bottle of soda; Enjoying a glass or two of wine or beer every day over the festive period could reduce your chances of dementia, according to a leading study.

Researchers found that light to moderate alcohol consumption reduced the risk of disease by more than a third compared to not drinking alcohol.

They discovered that alcohol is beneficial whether consumed alone or with food. And the type of alcohol consumed made little or no difference.

The findings contradict some earlier studies which implied that any alcohol intake could increase the risk of developing dementia, already the UK’s biggest killer of heart disease and cancer.

Nearly one million people in the UK have an incurable disease and around 75,000 die each year.

Numerous studies have examined the effect of alcohol on dementia risk. Some have found that drinking small amounts regularly may be protective, but others have shown no such benefit.

A major study by scientists at the University of Oxford earlier this year found no positive effect on the brain.

But recent research by a team of experts from Soochow University in China suggests that daily drinking may reduce the risk by up to 35 percent.

They tracked nearly 300,000 people who signed up to the UK Biobank, a database of the health information of thousands of Britons that was first established nearly 20 years ago.

Researchers documented drinking habits and matched them to dementia diagnoses.

The findings, published in the European Journal of Epidemiology, found that men and women who drank several pints of beer or two to three small glasses of wine a day were significantly less likely to later experience dementia than those who rarely or never touched alcohol.

Binge drinking, classified as more than three pints of strong beer or three pints of wine a day, appeared to have no impact on risk.

The researchers acknowledged that one explanation for the positive findings may be that many men and women who do not currently drink were former heavy drinkers and thus were at greater risk even if they had stopped drinking.

But they said it’s also possible that low levels of alcohol may protect the brain against some of the damage that leads to dementia.

This includes depression and even age-related decreases in brain volume, which are a major risk for this condition in the elderly.

In a report, the researchers said: ‘Our findings have implications for public health.

‘Low to moderate drinking may be considered as a potential part of dementia prevention plans in people who are not at risk of liver disease or alcohol dependence.’