Smoking may counteract benefit of moderate drinking on stroke risk

March, 2010

A large long-running study has found that though non-smokers who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol were 37% less likely to develop stroke than non-drinkers, this association was not found among smokers.

A 12-year study following the drinking and smoking habits of 22,524 people aged 39-79 has found that in non-smokers, people who consumed moderate amounts of alcohol were 37% less likely to develop stroke than non-drinkers. This association was not found among smokers. The finding may explain the inconsistency in previous studies into the relationship between light to moderate drinking and stroke.

www.physorg.com/news190375547.html

Reference:

The findings were presented at the American Academy of Neurology's 62nd Annual Meeting in Toronto, April 10 - 17, 2010.

nicotine

stroke

Health & age-related problems

Related News

Mental imagery training improves multiple sclerosis patients' cognition

Training in a mental imagery technique has been found to help multiple sclerosis patients in two memory domains often affected by the disease: autobiographical memory and episodic future thinking.

Movie study confirms older people are more distractible

A study involving 218 participants aged 18-88 has looked at the effects of age on the brain activity of participants viewing an edited version of a 1961 Hitchcock TV episode (given that participants viewed the movie while in a MRI machine, the 25 minute episode was condensed to 8 minutes).

Physical activity linked to greater mental flexibility in older adults

A study involving 100 healthy older adults (aged 60-80) has found that those with higher levels of physical activity showed more variable spontaneous brain activity in certain brain regions (including the

Dementia sufferers become unaware of memory problems years before diagnosis

A ten-year study involving 2,092 older adults (average age 76) has found that people tended to lose awareness of memory problems two to three years before the onset of dementia.

No benefit in omega-3 supplements for cognitive decline

A large, five-year study challenges the idea that omega-3 fatty acids can slow age-related cognitive decline.

Limited benefit of physical activity for preventing cognitive decline

A large, two-year study challenges the evidence that regular exercise helps prevent age-related cognitive decline.

Physical activity saves hippocampus in people at risk of Alzheimer's

A study involving 97 healthy older adults (65-89) has found that those with the “Alzheimer’s gene” (APOe4) who didn’t engage in much physical activity showed a decrease in hippocampal volume (3%) over 18 months.

More evidence bilingualism protects against dementia

An Indian study involving 648 dementia patients, of whom 391 were bilingual, has found that, overall, bilingual patients developed dementia 4.5 years later than the monolingual ones. There was no additional advantage to speaking more than two languages.

Depression in the elderly linked to Alzheimer's risk

A study, involving 371 patients with mild cognitive impairment, has found that those with depressive symptoms had higher levels of amyloid-beta, particularly in the frontal cortex and the anterior and posterior

Alzheimer’s caregivers may benefit from tailored interventions

A study involving 206 spousal and adult children caregivers of dementia sufferers (mostly Alzheimer’s) has found that about 84% of caregivers reported a clinically significant burden. Three factors were significant contributors to the burden:

Pages