TORONTO, Jun 15 (Reuters Health) - Consuming less than one alcoholic drink per day may help preserve the mental function of older women, according to preliminary findings presented here at the 2001 Congress of Epidemiology.

Dr. Meir Stampfer, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts, and colleagues assessed the impact of moderate alcohol use on mental function among participants involved in the Nurses' Health Study.

Between 1995 and 1999, the investigators interviewed 9,072 women aged 70 to 79. The women's mental function was assessed using seven different tests. Information about their alcohol use had been collected at the beginning of the study, in 1980, and was updated through to 1994.

After adjusting for other factors that could affect mental function, the researchers found that the women who drank moderately had better average scores on five of the seven tests. They also did better on a global score that combined all seven tests.

In an interview with Reuters Health, Stampfer emphasized that the differences they observed between women who consumed modest amounts of alcohol and those who did not drink at all were "small differences within the normal range."

However, he added, "the effect we saw on cognitive function from alcohol was the equivalent of being 1 or 2 years younger."

In a separate study, Boston researchers examined the relationship between alcohol consumption and folate intake and the risk of developing a major chronic illness including heart disease or cancer. Folate is a B vitamin found in green leafy vegetables, orange juice, dried beans and peas and fortified cereals.

The researchers analyzed the dietary habits of 83,945 healthy women between the ages of 30 and 55 every 4 years over a 16-year study period.

Heavy drinking for women was defined as consuming about 2.5 alcoholic drinks per day. At 16 years follow-up, investigators found that heavy drinkers who had a folate intake of less than 160 micrograms per day had the highest risk of developing a major chronic disease compared with either non-drinkers or those whose folate intake was in excess of 300 micrograms daily.

"Nothing is going to protect the heavy drinker," observed Stampfer, a co-investigator in this study.

But within the moderate range of alcohol consumption, these results are "strong enough" to suggest that adequate folate helps protect women against major chronic diseases, he added.

"Given that folate is safe, I recommend that anyone who drinks, even moderate or light drinkers and especially women, to be sure and get adequate folate, and the best way to be sure you are getting adequate folate is with supplementation," Stampfer said.

The recommended daily dose of folate is 400 micrograms per day.

From ReutersHealth.com