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Health See other Health Articles Title: Alcohol, Coffee Consumption Linked to Better Gait (Reuters Health) - Coffee and alcohol consumption may be associated with a better gait in older adults, suggests a new Dutch study. But smokers were more likely to have worse gaits than nonsmokers, say the authors. Gait is an important indicator of health that's influenced by many organ systems, study coauthor Dr. M. Arfan Ikram told Reuters Health in an email. Ikram, a neurologist at the Erasmus MC University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, and colleagues analyzed information taken from participants aged 45 and older in the Rotterdam Study. Gait assessments were performed on 2,546 participants between 2009 and 2012. About 82% of participants drank alcohol, 92% drank coffee, 17% were current smokers, and 51% were past smokers. The researchers measured gait velocity and Global Gait, which is the average of seven gait domains. Moderate alcohol consumption (one to three drinks per day) was associated with better Global Gait scores, gait velocity, rhythm and variability, the authors reported July 29 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Drinking more than three cups of coffee per day was associated with better Global Gait scores and gait velocity. On the other hand, smokers had worse Global Gait scores and gait velocity than non-smokers. Ikram said it's important to keep in mind that the study team only found associations and were not able to prove that coffee, alcohol or smoking caused the gait changes. "Further research will be needed to disentangle whether this effect is caused by alcohol, coffee, or smoking per se, or is actually reflecting other aspects that are linked with these substances, such as socio-economic status, lifestyle, working life, etc.," he said. Dr. Matthew Bartels said the findings are very interesting, but more research would be needed to prove causation. Bartels, who chairs the Department of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine at Montefiore Hospital in New York, wasn't involved with the new study. "The interesting thing here is that the association may be due to many things, among which is maybe healthier people feel the ability to continue to use the coffee and alcohol, or maybe . . . individuals who are starting to feel unsteady on their feet . . . stop drinking coffee and alcohol," Bartels told Reuters Health in an email. Bartels pointed out that acute alcohol use certainly does not improve gait. (Just ask any police officer who does sobriety tests, he said.) "I think the main takeaway is that moderate consumption of most items is not harmful and may be beneficial, with the exception of tobacco products, which do not seem to be beneficial for most health measures that have been examined," he said. Bartels said that good gait is associated with better health outcomes, especially in older people. "People can improve their gait by walking more - and keeping up their strength," Bartels said, "So doing squats, and walking are more important for maintaining gait than any other simple intervention." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1hWzB3p Eur J Clin Nutr 2015. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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