American journal of epidemiology
-
The authors examined the effects of smoking and alcohol use in a prospective community-based study of incident Alzheimer's disease. Two in-home interviews of the total elderly population of East Boston, Massachusetts, conducted in 1982 and 1985 were used to sample individuals for clinical evaluation for Alzheimer's disease. A total of 513 persons underwent detailed clinical evaluation including neurologic, neuropsychologic, and psychiatric evaluation to diagnose Alzheimer's disease. ⋯ For 40 pack-years of smoking, the odds ratio of Alzheimer's disease was 0.8 (95% confidence interval 0.6-1.1). Consumption of 1 oz (30 ml) of alcohol per day was associated with an odds ratio of 1.1 (95% confidence interval 0.8-1.5). These results suggest that recent mild-to-moderate consumption of alcohol is not substantially related to incidence of Alzheimer's disease and that smoking does not increase risk of the disease.