Middle-aged drinking

SIR – We note with some concern your report “Middle-aged drinking may reduce dementia risk, new study finds” (telegraph.co.uk, August 2).

The research findings of the study in question lend considerable support for the new UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk drinking guidelines of

14 units per week for men and women. Indeed, drinking above this guideline was shown to heighten the risk of developing dementia.

No health professional would ever recommend that abstainers begin drinking to improve their health. Middle-aged drinkers currently place the greatest burden on our health service and it is vital that information is communicated to them and the rest of the population about the risks associated with alcohol, such as cancer, liver disease and alcoholrelated brain damage.

With alcohol draining our NHS of £3.5billion each year, the last thing we need is to encourage more drinking. Professor Roger Williams

Director, Institute of Hepatology Katherine Brown

Chief Executive, Institute of Alcohol Studies

London SW1