Alcohol consumption and cerebral blood flow among older adults

Christie, Israel C.; Price, Julie; Edwards, Louisa; Muldoon, Matthew; Meltzer, Carolyn C.; Jennings, J. Richard

doi:10.1016/j.alcohol.2008.03.132

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Volume 42, Issue 4 , Pages 269-275, June 2008

Alcohol consumption and cerebral blood flow among older adults

Israel C. Christie
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Corresponding author. Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine Training Program, Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh, E-1333 Thomas Detre Hall, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Tel.: +1-412-246-6203; fax: +1-412-246-6210.
Julie Price
- Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Louisa Edwards
- School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, UK
Matthew Muldoon
- Center for Clinical Pharmacology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA
Carolyn C. Meltzer
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
- Department of Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
J. Richard Jennings
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA

Received 7 May 2007; received in revised form 20 March 2008; accepted 27 March 2008.

Abstract

A substantial epidemiological literature now supports the existence of a J or U-shaped association between alcohol consumption and a broad range cardiovascular health outcomes including stroke. Although it is well documented that alcoholics exhibit both global and regional cerebral hypoperfusion in the sober state, little is known regarding the effects of a broader range of alcohol consumption on cerebral blood flow (CBF). The present study employed positron emission tomography with H₂¹⁵O to assess quantitative global and regional CBF in 86 participants (51 men and 35 women; mean age 60.1) as a function of self-reported weekly alcohol consumption (none, <1, 1 to <7, 7 to <15, and >15 drinks per week). Analyses controlling for age, gender, and vascular health (carotid intima-media thickness) revealed that, relative to the weighted population mean, global CBF was greater in the lightest alcohol consumption group (<1 per week) and lower in the heaviest (>15 per week). Effects did not vary across regions of interest. This report is the first to describe an inverted J-shaped relationship between alcohol consumption and CBF in the absence of stroke.

Keywords: Alcohol consumption, Cerebral blood flow, Positron emission tomography