Drinking any amount of alcohol likely increases dementia risk

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September 23, 2025, 10:30 PM

• •Drinking any amount of alcohol likely increases dementia risk.
• •Even light drinking does not lower risk.
• •Dementia risk increases with the quantity of alcohol consumed.
• •Study used observational data and genetic methods.
• •Reverse causation may explain previous findings of moderate drinking being protective.

A large study published in BMJ Evidence-Based Medicine found that any amount of alcohol consumption likely increases the risk of dementia. The research, which combined observational data and genetic methods, revealed a linear increase in dementia risk with higher alcohol consumption, challenging the notion of a protective effect from moderate drinking. The study also highlighted the complexity of inferring causality in observational studies, suggesting that reduced alcohol use before a dementia diagnosis might be due to reverse causation. Researchers conclude that reducing alcohol consumption may be an important strategy for dementia prevention.

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