Moderate drinking reduces risk of falls in elderly

A moderate intake of alcohol has been shown to reduce the risk of falls in elderly people, according to a paper published in Osteoporosis International last month.

Moderate drinking was associated with at least a 20% decrease in the risk of falls when compared with abstainers. Picture source: First Aid for Life

The study examined the association between certain patterns of alcohol consumption – including the Mediterranean drinking pattern (MDP) – and the risk of falls in more than 2,000 people aged 60 or more over a 3.3 year period.

Perhaps surprisingly, and certainly significantly, the results of the study showed that moderate amounts of alcohol, which were defined as fewer than 40 grams of alcohol per day for men and fewer than 24 grams per day for women, did not increase the possibility of falls, but actually resulted in a decrease of 20% or more in such risk among the elderly.

Furthermore, a critique of these results by The Internal Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research (ISFAR), which was published today, has also highlighted that the risks for having multiple falls or those requiring medical care were also found to be lower for moderate drinkers.

Not only that, but the critique draws attention to the fact that subjects with higher scores for a Mediterranean-type diet, which includes regular wine consumption, had a similar or more impressive reduction in their risk of falls.

Although the specific reasons for such protection are not fully known, the ISFAR critique notes that moderate drinking does have a number of favourable effects on health, and these may play a role.

Among these positive effects are less osteoporosis, less cardiovascular disease, less dementia, and greater functional capacity.

While the investigators of the study were able to adjust for many factors known to be associated with falls, the ISFAR do comment that residual confounding is always a possibility to explain these results.

In short, the ISFAR note that previous studies have often reported an increase in the risk of falls for heavy drinkers, however, this latest piece of research supports findings that light-to-moderate alcohol intake does not increase the risk, and often is shown to decrease the risk of falls and fractures.

Concluding, the ISFAR writes, “In the present study, even with adjustments for most known lifestyle factors affecting risk, moderate drinking was associated with at least a 20% decrease in the risk of falls when compared with abstainers.

“This is a message that needs to be incorporated into drinking recommendations for the elderly.”

The study was titled: Patterns of alcohol consumption and risk of falls in older adults: a prospective cohort study.

It featured in Osteoporosis International 2017, and was written by Ortolá R, García-Esquinas E, Galán I, Guallar-Castillón P, López-García E, Banegas JR, Rodríguez-Artalejo F.

Please click here to read the study.