An expert in dementia has revealed the exact age that people should give up alcohol to ward off a brain disorder. Whether it’s a social drink every few weeks or a bottle of wine on Friday nights, most Brits enjoy a drink every now and then.
However, Dr Richard Restak, an American neurologist, says 65 is the optimum age to put down the glass.
He states how even just a couple of drinks every few weeks can result in acceleration to age-related damage in our brain’s nerve cells.
Later in life, the importance of preserving neurons becomes more apparent according to Dr Restrak, as he emphasises how essential it is to abstain from alcohol at a certain stage in life.
In his book, The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind, Dr Restrak writes how “alcohol is a very, very weak neurotoxin.”
He says: “I strongly suggest that if you are 65 years old or older, that you completely and permanently eliminate alcohol from your diet.”
In the view of the previous president of the American Neuropysychiatric Association, Dr Restreak says people should begin to significantly reduce their consumption of alcohol around 65 with the aim of cutting it out entirely by 70.
This age has been pinpointed due to the risk of dementia jumping by five-fold, with this continuing every five years.
Dementia is a syndrome caused by a plethora of diseases which over time destroy nerve cells and damage the brain. It typically leads to a deterioration in cognitive function, the ability to process thought, which affects memory, thinking, behaviour and motor control.
In the UK, almost one in 14 people over the age of 65 is thought to be living with dementia – nearly one million Brits. With the ageing population, this figure is set to increase to 1.5 million in the coming decade.
Multiple experts have completed studies confirming the link of a high alcohol consumption to dementia. This is due to prolonged excessive drinking causing parts of the brain to shrink.
This can then accelerate the progression of dementia with some cases showing it to be the trigger.
