Just two drinks slows reactions in older people

Blood alcohol levels below the current legal limit for driving have a significant negative effect on a person’s dexterity. Dutch researchers writing in the open access journal, BMC Research Notes, found that just two single vodka and orange drinks were enough to make senior volunteers struggle at an obstacle avoidance test while walking.

Judith Hegeman worked with a team of researchers from Sint Maartenskliniek, Nijmegen in the Netherlands, to carry out the tests in 13 healthy men and women (average age 61.5 years or 62 years).

“The results clearly show that even with low blood alcohol concentrations, reactions to sudden gait perturbations are seriously affected. After ingestion of 2 alcoholic drinks, obstacles were hit twice as often, response times were delayed and response amplitudes were reduced. These changes were most obvious in situations with little available response time.

“We found that alcohol levels, considered to be safe for driving, seriously hamper the ability to successfully avoid sudden obstacles in the travel path,” she said.

“A possible limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size, however even with the small number, it yielded an unequivocal outcome.”

Wine drinking associated with better cognitive function

In separate research, moderate wine consumption is independently associated with better performance on cognitive tests, according to a seven year Norwegian study of older (average age 58 and free of stroke) people.
 
Among women, there was a lower risk of a poor testing score for those who consumed wine at least four or more times over two weeks in comparison with those who drink fewer than once during this period.

The expected associations between other risk factors for poor cognitive functioning were seen, i.e. lower testing scores among people who were older, less educated, smokers, and those with depression, diabetes, or hypertension.

It has long been known that “moderate people do moderate things”. The authors state the same thing: “A positive effect of wine . . . could also be due to confounders such as socio-economic status and more favourable dietary and other lifestyle habits”.

The results of this study support findings from previous research on the topic. Most studies show an association between light to moderate alcohol consumption and better cognitive function and reduced risk of dementia, including both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease.

Such effects could relate to the presence in wine of a number of polyphenols (antioxidants) and other micro elements that may help reduce the risk of cognitive decline with ageing.

Mechanisms that have been suggested for alcohol itself being protective against cognitive decline include effects on atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), coagulation (thickening of the blood and clotting), and reducing inflammation (of artery walls, improving blood flow).