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Young age at first drink can turn under-15s into alcoholics

Washington, Sept 19 (ANI): Drinking at young age may affect genes linked to alcoholism and make youngsters vulnerable to severe problems, says a new study.

The study led by Dr Arpana Agrawal, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, revealed that the younger an individual was at first drink, the greater the risk for alcohol dependence and the more prominent the role played by genetic factors.

“There seemed to be a greater genetic influence in those who took their first full drink at a younger age,” said Agrawal.

“That’s very consistent with what has been predicted in the literature and in the classification of types of alcohol dependence, but we present a unique test of the hypothesis,” she added.

During the study, the researchers studied 6,257 adult twins from Australia and measured the extent to which age at first drink changed the role of heritable influences on symptoms of alcohol dependence.

The study showed that when twins started drinking early, genetic factors contributed greatly to risk for alcohol dependence, at rates as high as 90 percent in the youngest drinkers.

The team also found that those who were 15 or younger when they started drinking tended to have a greater genetic risk for alcohol dependence.

However, some who were 16 or older before they took their first drink later became alcohol dependent, but their dependence was related more to environmental factors.

“Something about starting to drink at an early age puts young people at risk for later problems associated with drinking,” Agrawal says.

“We continue to investigate the mechanisms, but encouraging youth to delay their drinking debut may help.

“Some early-onset drinkers do not develop alcohol problems and some late-onset drinkers do – we are working on why that is the case, but it is important to note that this is one risk factor among many and does not determine whether a person will, or will not, develop alcohol dependence.

“But age at first drink is a well-known risk factor, and there have been two main hypotheses about why:

One has been that common genetic and environmental factors contribute both to the risk for alcohol dependence and to the likelihood a person will be younger when consuming their first drink,” she added.

The study will be published Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. (ANI)

Regular moderate alcohol intake cuts dementia risk in older adults

Washington, July 14 (ANI): Regular moderate alcohol intake offers long-term cognitive protection and reduces the risk of dementia in older adults, according to a new study.

This is the largest, longest U.S. study to look at the effects of regular alcohol intake on dementia in seniors, both with and without memory problems.

For the study, researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine examined and interviewed 3,069 individuals, 75 years or older and most without any memory or thinking problems, about their drinking habits.

Participants were asked about beer, wine, and liquor. The researchers then categorized the individuals as abstainers (non-drinkers), light drinkers (one to seven drinks per week), moderate drinkers (eight to 14 drinks per week), or heavy drinkers (more than 14 drinks per week). All types of alcohol were included.

The study subjects were then examined and interviewed every six months for six years to determine changes in their memory or thinking abilities and to monitor who developed dementia.

The researchers found that individuals, who had no cognitive impairment at the start of the study and drank eight to 14 alcoholic beverages per week, or one to two per day, experienced an average 37 percent reduction in risk of developing dementia compared to individuals who did not drink at all and were classified as abstainers.

For older adults who started the study with mild cognitive impairment, however, consumption of alcohol, at any amount, was associated with faster rates of cognitive decline.
n addition, those who were classified in the heavy drinker category, consuming more than 14 drinks per week, were almost twice as likely to develop dementia during the study compared to non-drinkers with mild cognitive impairment.

“We were excited to see that even in older adults, moderate alcohol intake decreases the risk of dementia. It is important to note, however, that our study found a significantly higher risk of dementia for heavy drinkers who started the study with mild cognitive impairment,” said Kaycee Sink, M.D., M.A.S (Masters of Advanced Studies in clinical research), a geriatrician and senior author of the study.

The study has been presented at the Alzheimer’s Association 2009 International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD), in Vienna on July 13. (ANI)

Young age at first drink can turn under-15s into alcoholics

Regular moderate alcohol intake cuts dementia risk in older adults

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