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To the Editor: In his Clinical Crossroads article, Dr Brust¹ discussed the patient Mr E, an older, moderate to heavy alcohol drinker experiencing memory difficulty and an apparently unrelated polyneuropathy. Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), early Alzheimer disease (AD), Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, and "alcoholic dementia" were considered as possible diagnoses. Appropriate management of the suggested diagnosis of MCI or early AD for this patient included measures to reduce alcohol dependence and to delay progression of the cognitive impairment. However, many epidemiological studies have failed to identify a positive relationship between moderate alcohol intake (usually up to 1 or 2 drinks daily) and risk of dementia, and they have also found such amounts to be protective.^2-3

We evaluated the association of alcohol consumption and the incidence of MCI in 1445 non–cognitively impaired individuals and on its progression to dementia in 121 patients with MCI aged 65 to 84 years participating in the Italian . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Francesco Panza, MD, PhD
geriat.dot@geriatria.uniba.it
Department of Geriatrics
University of Bari
Bari, Italy

Cristiano Capurso, MD, PhD
Department of Geriatrics
University of Foggia
Foggia, Italy

Vincenzo Solfrizzi, MD, PhD
Department of Geriatrics
University of Bari
Bari, Italy

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