[P05.030] The Effect of Alcohol Consumption on Total Brain Volume: The Framingham Heart Study

Carol Ann Paul, Wellesley, MA, Rhoda Au, Lisa Fredman, Joe Massaro, Sudha Seshadri, Philip Wolf, Boston, MA

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether alcohol consumption is related to differences in brain volume in a non-demented, community-dwelling population. BACKGROUND: Research has shown that there is a beneficial effect of alcohol in reducing incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in subjects who consume low to moderate amounts of alcohol. We examined whether a similar pattern of low to moderate alcohol consumption has a beneficial effect on normal brain aging (as measured by brain volume), when compared to abstinence or high alcohol consumption. DESIGN/METHODS: Participants were 1839 subjects from the Framingham Offspring Study, aged 34 88 years. Brain MRIs were performed from 1999-2002 and total brain volume, corrected for total cranial volume, (TCBV) was determined. The subjects were categorized into 5 groups according to self-reported alcohol status recorded just prior to the MRI: abstainers, former drinkers, low (1-7), moderate (8-14) and high (>14) drinks/week. Pair-wise comparisons of mean TCBV levels were made between the alcohol consumption groups. Multivariate linear regression models were used to evaluate the association between categories of alcohol consumption and TCBV, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, height, education and Framingham Stroke Risk Profile. Also, longitudinal history of alcohol consumption (1987 to 2001) was assessed for its effect on TCBV. RESULTS: There was a significant negative linear relationship between alcohol consumption levels and brain volume (average decrease in TCBV = -2.89/drink category p=0.002). Sex was an effect modifier of this relationship (p=0.0029) with males having a slightly lower slope (p = 0.051) than females (p = 0.018). Further, there was a significant negative correlation between alcohol consumption and brain volume among women in their 70s (p = 0.013). In the longitudinal analysis continuous heavy drinking was negatively associated with brain volume (p=0.005 0.026). CONCLUSIONS/RELEVANCE: This study found that greater alcohol consumption was negatively correlated with brain volume.
Category - Neuroepidemiology/Health Services and Outcomes Research
SubCategory - Imaging

Wednesday, May 2, 2007 4:00 PM

Poster Sessions: Neuroepidemiology / Health Services and Outcomes Research (4:00 PM-7:00 PM)

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