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Isle study says
modest drinking
a brain plus

Honolulu researchers find
memory and reasoning up
among the lesser tipplers

---

By Helen Altonn
Star-Bulletin

Honolulu researchers have some good news for middle-aged people who drink alcohol moderately: They could have better memory, reasoning and perception in their older years than teetotalers.

"The best results we found were up to one (drink) a day," said Daniel J. Galanis, who conducted a study reported today in the American Journal of Public Health. "It looked like up to two really didn't hurt, but it might be a clearer message to say up to one per day," he added. "That's what's recommended nationally."

Galanis, now with the state Department of Health's Injury Prevention and Control Program, was formerly with the National Institute on Aging. He conducted the drinking analysis as a consultant to the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study.

That study was initiated in 1991 as part of the Honolulu Heart Program, which began in 1965 with 8,006 Japanese-American men on Oahu. They were born from 1900 through 1919 and identified through the World War II Selective Service registration file.

A very productive study

Studies of the group throughout the years have led to significant findings on heart, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases, stroke, dementia and other diseases.

Assisting Galanis with the study on drinking and cognitive performance in the men were Drs. Carol Joseph, Kamal H. Masaki, Helen Petrovitch, G. Webster Ross and Lon White.

They said in their paper: "Because dementia is a common and devastating condition among older adults, even a modest effect of alcohol on cognition could have broad public health implications for the elderly."

Galanis said in an interview, however, "We found what we call 'moderate drinking' is associated with better cognitive performance than not drinking at all."

The initial examination of the men in the Honolulu Heart Program was followed with Exam II, 1968-1970; Exam III, 1971-1974, and Exam IV, 1991-1993.

Galanis said 6,860 men in the original group were still living when Exam III was conducted, and there were 3,556 in the final analysis.

They were questioned about how much beer, wine, sake and liquor they drank and how often, he said.

But in computing their alcohol intake, the researchers didn't distinguish between the types of drinks, he said.

Non- to heavy drinkers

The men were classified in four categories: nondrinkers; moderate drinkers (1-15 ounces of alcohol per day); heavy drinkers (more than 15 ounces of alcohol daily); and those who reduced alcohol consumption between the first and third examinations.

"I think most of them were abstainers, and drinking definitely decreased over the follow-up period," Galanis said. The men were tested 18 years after the third examination for cognitive skills, such as attention, concentration, perception and orientation.

Their average age then was 78, Galanis said.

Those who consumed up to one drink a day during middle age were found to have significantly better cognitive test results than nondrinkers, he said.

Risk was much lower

"Compared to nondrinkers," the report said, "the risk of a poor Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument score was lowered by 22 percent to 40 percent among men who consumed 1-60 ounces of alcohol per month."

Those who had more than four drinks a day had significantly lower scores.

"We found a lot of abstainers remained abstainers," Galanis said. "Ninety-five percent of those continued not to drink."

Those who drank also did less of it as they grew older, he said. "Over half, 55 percent, of those drinking in Exam III were abstainers by the follow-up."

While the researchers were examining effects of alcohol, they also found continuous smoking associated with lower cognitive performance, "probably due to vascular damage," Galanis said.

"If people are currently moderate drinkers, then this study doesn't say there is anything harmful with that kind of behavior, he said. "In fact, it may be beneficial," Galanis said, summing up the findings.

"But as far as people thinking they should start up (drinking), they should really consider this with their physician very carefully," he cautioned. "There are a lot of potential problems."

The report concluded: "The health risks of any drinking may outweigh any potential benefits for many elderly people. Preexisting alcohol use disorders, the risk of adverse alcohol-drug reactions and chronic medical conditions often preclude the use of alcohol together.

"For older persons without contraindications to drinking, we would endorse the current recommended limit of one standard drink per day for elderly persons."