“As Little as 8 Alcoholic Drinks a Week Can Contribute to Dementia, Research Says”

Question

This claim is TRUE:

The original article was published on the People Magazine website. It got its data from a study by the scientific journal Neurology. The link in the article leads to the Scientific Daily website, which holds the same information.

BUT…

The Scientific Daily website is not the primary source. If you go to that website, you can find a link to the Neurology article. The American Academy of Neurology is not associated with the government but is a reputable organization. 

Answer 1

This claim is accurate. The people magazine articles pulls it's information from a study found on Science Daily. Doing further research showed that their is evidence and further research past the Science Daily research article. According to the Alzheimer's society UK excessive alcohol consumption can increase the risk of someone getting dementia in the future. Although it should be noted drinking excessively does not directly cause dementia, drinking does cause damage to the brain over a long period of time that would lead to short-term memory loss and alcohol-related dementia (Alzheimer's Society UK). Alcohol intake excessively decreases the cognitive function after 14 drinks a week (Jama Network)

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/alcohol

https://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/news/alcohol-later-life-dementia-risk/

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2752097?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=092719

Comments

Although you are correct about the first few studies and articles you mentioned, you didn't provide any evidence apart from saying that they said it.

Answer 2

I used the People's website which tens to have bias and not generally a trustworthy source but I was able to find credible information and trustworthy sources within this topic. It is true that 8 drinks per week causes long term dementia and can really affect your health. They did research on people that drank alcohol consistently for years and found that alcohol caused lesions restricting blood flow and overall decreasing health. Everything was backed up by a scientific article showing that it is a fact.

https://people.com/as-little-as-8-alcoholic-drinks-a-week-can-contribute-to-dementia-research-says-11712922#:~:text=Per%20the%20study%2C%20published%20this,associated%20with%20diseases%20like%20Alzheimer's.

Answer 3

After reading this prompt and finding a resource to look at scientific data I found the results very interesting. My first impression was curiosity knowing that alcohol has very negative effects on the human body but inducing dementia is pretty awful. I chose to do my research on Alcohol Intake and Risk of Dementia - Luchsinger - 2004 - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society - Wiley Online Library which gave me everything I needed. This article showed that when they did a study on people 65 and older and monitored their alcohol consumption over 4 years. This study was made up of 980 people in the community and showed after 4 years "260 of them had developed dementia" people who had 3 glasses of wine per week were at lower risk and people who drank beer and liquor with around 14 drinks per week. I think this clearly shows us that this claim is TRUE and as long as people limit consumption if not cut it out completely the effects can be much better than people who drink a lot of alcohol in the long run. I also looked at this website Heavy Drinking Raises Risk of Dementia-Related Brain Lesions by 133%, New Study Finds — Best Life  this website informed me " formally heavy drinkers (more than 8 per week) where 41-31 percent more likely to get dementia.

Alcohol Intake and Risk of Dementia - Luchsinger - 2004 - Journal of the American Geriatrics Society - Wiley Online Library

Heavy Drinking Raises Risk of Dementia-Related Brain Lesions by 133%, New Study Finds — Best Life 

Answer 4

This claim is true, in that excessive alcohol consumption does lead to dementia, but the line between normal and excessive drinking is unclear. According to the Alzheimer's Society, "Evidence shows that excessive alcohol consumption increases a person’s risk of developing dementia.", their line between moderate and excessive drinking falls at 14 "units" or about 7 beers. The Cleveland Clinic agrees that dementia and alcohol are linked, but they have their moderate-excessive line set at 14 standard drinks per week. 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/alcohol-related-dementia

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/alcohol

Answer 5

This claim has elements of truth paired with exaggerations. While there is an association between drinking and dementia there is no direct correlation. This headline stems from a study done by Neurology a peer reviewed neurology journal. The study showed that while yes moderate, heavy and former heavy alcohol consumers were associated with reduced brain mass and cognitive abilities, the lack of data restricts the interpretation of the findings. From this original publication we can see that while there is some truth it is exaggerated and misleading to the public when being posted in bigger publications. This exact headline is from an article posted on People Magazine. This article pulls certain pieces from the study while leaving out that there is not enough data to prove their findings with certainty.  

Sources:

https://people.com/as-little-as-8-alcoholic-drinks-a-week-can-contribute-to-dementia-research-says-11712922

https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5251

https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000213555

Answer 6

According to People.com's article and the research they based their claims on, only 8 alcoholic drinks a week can contribute to dementia. However, they never explicitly say this in their article and only refer to the levels of drinking as moderate or heavy drinkers. None of what they explicitly say has concrete evidence, even if you follow their links to their sources.
According to Alzheimer.org.uk, they say above 14 drinks a week is when "over a long period of time, may shrink the parts of the brain involved in memory. Drinking more than 28 units per week can lead to a sharper decline in thinking skills as people get older."
The only real agreed-upon take from People.com and Alzheimer.org.uk is that drinking consistently over a week for an extended period will increase the likelihood of brain damage.

Sources: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/alcohol

Answer 7

According to the American Academy of Neurology, the original publisher of this study, "After adjusting for factors that could affect brain health such as age at death, smoking and physical activity, heavy drinkers had 133% higher odds of having vascular brain lesions compared to those who never drank, former heavy drinkers had 89% higher odds and moderate drinkers, 60%." The American Academy of Neurology is a credible source for  studies that provide medical education as they are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, or ACCME. Also an accredited source, Alzheimer's Society, has a lot of information from different studies that form a general consensus on the link between alcohol usage and dementia. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is one of these sources, which urges the reduction of alcohol consumption as well as other lifestyle choices to reduce the chances of developing dementia. Overall, this claim seems to be true as multiple different accredited healthcare services agree according to their research.

https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5251

https://www.aan.com/education/accme-mission-statement

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/managing-the-risk-of-dementia/reduce-your-risk-of-dementia/alcohol

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng16

Answer 8

Although the reputability of People magazine as a source is debatable, the article does link to a scientific research article from the American Academy of Neurology. As stated, the American Academy of Neurology is not associated with the government, but the original post does claim them to be a reputable source. In order to cross-reference the integrity of this article's claim, I found a similar review on the website for the National Institute of Health's (NIH) National Library of Medicine (NLM), which is "the world's largest biomedical library," as defined by usa.gov, the United States' official government website. The study states that "Light to moderate alcohol use in middle to late adulthood was associated with a decreased risk of cognitive impairment and dementia in numerous observational studies; however, there were contradictory findings, and owing to a number of methodological weaknesses...causality of this association could not be established." However, the article also notes the need for further research, as factors such as contradictory research guidelines, differences in age, biological sex, and other biological factors, as well as differences in predisposition to dementia and other related neurodegenerative diseases, can affect the related outcomes of the available studies. Considering the nature of the claim being relatively open-ended, I err on the side that the original claim is true, with the caveat that more research is needed to establish more specific detail for the correlation between alcohol consumption and dementia.

Sources:

https://www.usa.gov/agencies/national-library-of-medicine

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10127029/#Sec11

Answer 9

The claim that regular alcohol consumption, specifically eight or more drinks a day, can contribute to developing dementia appears to be true. As acknowledged in the article, the full effects of alcohol on the human body, both long and short term, are yet to be fully discovered. However, that is not to say that we have not made significant progress in linking alcohol to several cognitive and physical deficits. The claim made in the article explains how regular alcohol consumption can sabotage blood vessels in the brain, leading to decreased blood flow within the brain. Looking around at some other sources, such as Medical News Today, there seems to be agreement within the medical community about the link between alcohol and dementia. While I would say this is true, I don't full agree with the wording. While in the study they did find links using a specific metric of eight drinks, using that number in the headline now plays an interesting role informationally. Does that now mean that six or seven drinks a week is totally cool? Would eight drinks worth of hard alcohol have the same effect as eight beers? In cases link this, where we don't have an exact link, I think it is important to remain modest and use words that better capture our understanding. Just switching out the terms for "regular drinking" or "multiple drinks a week" would be more appropriate for the findings from this study.

https://people.com/as-little-as-8-alcoholic-drinks-a-week-can-contribute-to-dementia-research-says-11712922

https://www.aol.com/little-8-alcoholic-drinks-week-120000309.html

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/alcohol-use-could-contribute-to-dementia-by-damaging-the-brain

Answer 10

The claim that "as little as 8 alcoholic drinks a week can contribute to dementia" is supported by some research, but it requires clarification and a more nuanced understanding. Research published by NeuroscienceNews reports that consuming 8 or more alcoholic drinks per week is associated with brain lesions (such as hyaline arteriolosclerosis), which can impair memory and cognitive function. The study also found that both heavy drinkers and former heavy drinkers have significantly higher odds of developing tau tangles, a biomarker for Alzheimer's disease, with an increase in risk by 41% and 31%. This is supported by findings in the Neurology Journal, which explores the connection between alcohol consumption and cognitive decline in over 1,700 participants. However, while these studies link excessive drinking to cognitive issues, the exact threshold of 8 drinks per week is not always specified, and the research often focuses on heavy drinking rather than a precise drink count.

The Alzheimer’s Society concurs that alcohol consumption is a risk factor for dementia and cognitive decline, noting that excessive drinking leads to brain shrinkage and lesions. However, they recommend limiting alcohol to 14 units a week for both men and women, which is not directly equivalent to 8 drinks, as the number of units varies with the type of alcohol consumed.

While the correlation between excessive alcohol consumption and dementia is well-supported, the claim that 8 drinks per week is a specific and direct contributor is over-simplified and potentially misleading. The relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia is more complex, depending not only on the number of drinks but also on the alcohol content and individual health factors, meaning that the 8-drink threshold does not universally apply in every situation. Therefore, while there is substantial evidence linking alcohol to cognitive decline, the claim that 8 drinks per week can directly contribute to dementia is somewhat exaggerated without more precise context.

NeuroscienceNews: Heavy Drinking Linked to Brain Lesions and Cognitive Decline Risk - Neuroscience News

Neurology Journal: Association Between Alcohol Consumption, Cognitive Abilities, and Neuropathologic Changes | Neurology

Alzheimer’s Society: Alcohol and the risk of dementia | Alzheimer's Society