For older women, that glass of wine at dinner or after-dinner aperitif may benefit the brain as well as the heart, according to new study findings released Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

U.S. investigators found that women over 70 who reported having about one alcoholic drink each day - whether it was wine, beer or liquor - were less likely than non-drinkers to show signs of mental decline 2 years later.

Study author Dr. Francine Grodstein of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard University in Boston explained that a growing body of research shows that moderate drinking is good for the heart and blood vessels. Also, studies are demonstrating that “a lot of the things that are good or bad for your heart are good or bad for your brain,” she told AMN Health.

Specifically, alcohol may help both the heart and brain by improving cholesterol and blood flow to the organs, and by helping the body process insulin, she said.

Although drinking too much can be very hard on the body, “for people who already have a drink with dinner…they should not be concerned that that small amount of alcohol is doing any damage to the brain,” Grodstein said in an interview.

Previous research has shown that light drinking may decrease the risk of dementia. To further investigate alcohol’s effects on the brain, Grodstein and her team administered memory tests to 11,102 women between 70 and 81, and retested them 2 years later.

During the tests, the women tried to repeat lists of random words, a series of digits, and stories. The participants in the study also reported how much alcohol they drank.

Grodstein and her team found that women who said they drank about one alcoholic drink per day - roughly equivalent to 2 drinks in men - scored better on the mental tests than non-drinkers. Light drinkers had a significantly lower risk of mental impairment, and were less likely to experience a substantial cognitive decline than non-drinkers.

Grodstein noted that she and her colleagues were unable to assess the effects of heavy drinking on mental abilities, since there were too few heavy drinkers in the study.

In an accompanying editorial, Dr. Denis A. Evans and Dr. Julia L. Bienias of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago write that the current study is only an “incremental advance” in the field, given that the researchers measured mental decline over only a two-year period.

Grodstein agreed, noting that “this is still relatively new work for us.” She added that she and her colleagues are now testing women again, and have applied for more money to continue the project.

“The more time you have to measure people’s changes, the more confident you are,” she said.

SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, January 20, 2005.