Alcohol consumption and risk of dementia

Study analyzes the impact of alcohol consumption on regions of the brain and the impact on the development of dementia.

Recently, several media outlets published a study showing the main risk factors for the development of dementia, with harmful alcohol consumption, air pollution and diabetes being the three main ones. The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Oxford, and published in the journal Nature Communications, presents a sophisticated methodology for analyzing a United Kingdom database, the UK Biobank, already used in other studies published by CISA.

The study, published in March 2024, analyzed the effect of risk factors on a set of brain regions with greater vulnerability to the aging process and dementia. In total, 15 risk factors for dementia were investigated, such as diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol level, weight, smoking, air pollution, socialization and alcohol consumption. To carry out this investigation, an analysis of the genome of around 40 thousand people was carried out through the UK Biobank.

Seeking to identify the risk factors associated with the degeneration of a brain network known as LIFO, the authors first investigated the natural reduction of gray matter (a region containing neurons) presented by the 40,000 biobank data. This LIFO network is associated with important cognitive functions such as attention, working memory and other cognitive functions. After that, along with genetic analysis, the researchers compared the results of the LIFO network degeneration with data from participants about the modifiable risk factors mentioned above, important for the development of dementia.

The authors point out that this study reveals both genetic and modifiable risk factors associated with one of the most fragile regions of the brain for aging and the development of dementia. The authors conclude that the findings pave the way for new research on aging.

References:

Manuello, J., Min, J., McCarthy, P., Alfaro-Almagro, F., Lee, S., Smith, S., ... & Douaud, G. (2024). The effects of genetic and modifiable risk factors on brain regions vulnerable to ageing and disease. Nature Communications, 15(1), 2576.