It’s True! A Little Drink Improves Women’s Minds!

All scientific theories need at least two studies to prove a point (i.e. to show that it’s reproducible). Here’s a second study showing that older women who drink a modest amount of alcohol have slightly higher levels of mental function than non-drinkers.

Wake Forest University researchers studied over 7000 women aged 65 to 80 who underwent standard tests of ‘global’ and ‘domain-specific’ cognitive function each year for an average of 4 years. Those women reporting moderate levels of alcohol intake (3 or fewer drinks a day) performed better on the tests than non-drinkers. They also did better on tests of verbal knowledge, verbal fluency, verbal memory, attention, and working memory. The researchers are at pains to point out that this sort of epidemiological study doesn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship; it can merely suggest an association between drinking and thinking. To ‘prove’ a cause and effect, you really need a prospective controlled study, something quite difficult to do in this sort of situation. And they go on to say that no-one should change their drinking habits based on the results of their study. It doesn’t mean, however, that many of us can’t take pleasure in a finding that can be somewhat reassuring.