Woman who drink are smarter people

A drink or two a day might improve a woman's thinking ability, a new study claims.

Women who had up to two drinks a day scored about 20 percent higher on a test of mental ability than women who had less than one a day or didn't drink at all, according to a report in the April 7 issue of Stroke.
It's not startling news, acknowledged study author Dr. Clinton B. Wright, an assistant professor of neurology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City.

A potentially important finding of the new study was the doubt it cast on the theory that moderate alcohol intake helps preserve mental function by limiting the buildup of fatty plaque deposits in the carotid artery, the main blood vessel to the brain. Using ultrasound to image the carotid artery, the researchers found no relationship between alcohol intake and the amount of plaque in the artery.

One possible explanation is that alcohol improves the flow of blood in smaller arteries, Wright said. The Columbia researchers plan further studies to explore that possibility. Click here to read the full article.