Why does forgetting a name at a party suddenly feel so alarming after a certain age? In an interview dated August 17, 2022, Dr. Richard Restak, a neurologist, neuropsychiatrist, and former president of the American Neuropsychiatric Association, argued that older adults should take alcohol far more seriously if they want to protect memory as the brain ages.
His message lands because memory slips are common, and they are often misunderstood. The National Institute on Aging says cognitive health is our ability to think, learn, and remember clearly, and that lifestyle habits can help lower the risk of cognitive decline over time. Some risks cannot be changed. Daily routines still matter.
When forgetfulness is normal and when it is not
Many everyday lapses come down to attention, not disease. Forgetting why you walked into a room, blanking on a name, or losing track of where you parked after leaving a store can happen because the brain never stored the detail properly in the first place.
The more worrying changes are the ones that feel out of character. He points to examples like finding car keys in the refrigerator, and the World Health Organization lists getting lost in familiar places, trouble following conversations, losing track of time, and difficulty with routine tasks among early warning signs of dementia. That is when a family member or doctor may want to look closer.
Why alcohol becomes a bigger issue after 65
His warning is blunt. He says, “Alcohol is a very, very weak neurotoxin. It’s not good for nerve cells,” and argues that the aging brain has less room for unnecessary damage because people usually have fewer neurons than they did when they were younger.
Official guidance is less absolute, but it points in the same direction. The National Institute on Aging says the body handles alcohol differently with age, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism says older adults become more sensitive to its effects on balance, attention, judgment, sleep, and memory.
In practical terms, that drink that once seemed harmless can mean more falls, more confusion, and more trouble when alcohol mixes with daily medications.
What may actually help lower the risk
There is no guaranteed way to avoid dementia. But the World Health Organization says people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline by staying physically active, not smoking, eating well, controlling blood pressure and blood sugar, and avoiding harmful alcohol use. Those steps are not magic, but they are among the clearest risk factors people can actually change.
Another point often gets overlooked. Federal guidance says sleep, hearing, vision, and mentally engaging activities matter too, and he urges people to keep reading because following characters and plot lines gives memory a steady workout.
When those supports fade, people often pull back from conversations and hobbies, and that can leave the brain doing less.
Related research backs that broader lifestyle view. A 2024 NIA-funded study from Rush University Medical Center, published in JAMA Neurology, found that healthier lifestyle scores were linked to better cognitive function in older adults, even among people whose brains showed common dementia-related changes.
That is why he compares prevention to wearing a seatbelt rather than expecting a guarantee.
The main interview was published in The Guardian.
