However, heavy drinking is more robustly linked to an increased risk of dementia. “Generally, over time, there have been new studies that show that chronic alcohol use — at very heavy use — can lead to brain damage, both gray and white matter. It can cause brain atrophy and shrink your brain over time,” shares Dr. Anand. Objective To examine the association can alcoholism cause dementia between alcohol consumption and risk of dementia. However, dementia risk appeared to be highest for the individuals with MCI who drank 14 drinks per week compared with those who drank less than one drink each week — a relative risk increase of 72%. Another unknown is how alcohol influences dementia risk for individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Alcoholic Dementia: Long-Term Effects of Heavy Drinking on Brain
A large-scale study that followed participants for 27 years found moderate alcohol consumption — defined as one to two drinks a few days a week — didn’t have an increased risk of dementia. Alcohol-related dementia is a brain disorder that causes memory, learning, and cognitive impairment due to alcohol use disorder. Chronic thiamine deficiency because of chronic alcohol consumption typically results in the slow decline of brain functions. This literature review indicates that chronic alcohol misuse accelerates brain aging and contributes to cognitive impairments, including those in the mnemonic domain also affected in Alzheimer’s disease.
Alcoholic Dementia vs. Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome
Table 1 presents details regarding the literature searches conducted in preparation for this review. Similarly, whereas the terms “Alzheimer’s” and “alcoholism” yielded 318 results, “Alzheimer’s” and “alcohol use disorder (AUD)” returned only 40 citations. The searches also considered subtypes of dementia in addition to Alzheimer’s disease, such as alcohol-related WKS and vascular, frontotemporal, and Lewy body dementias. Searches regarding animal models (i.e., rat, mouse) were narrowed by pathological terms or relevant mechanisms (e.g., amyloid, neurofibrillary tangles, presenilin). The majority of studies do not assess lifetime drinking trajectories. Other risk factors are lower levels of education, hearing impairment, high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, depression, physical inactivity, diabetes, excessive alcohol consumption, traumatic brain injury, air pollution and social isolation.
Causes of alcoholic dementia
- Other therapeutic methods may include diet changes and medically assisted reduction of alcohol intake.
- “Generally, over time, there have been new studies that show that chronic alcohol use — at very heavy use — can lead to brain damage, both gray and white matter.
- Alcoholic dementia, or alcohol-related dementia, is a severe form of alcohol-related brain damage caused by many years of heavy drinking.
Among the 1,518 participants screened, late-onset alcohol abuse affected 2.2 percent, higher than the 1.7 percent for older adults overall. The research team found that late-onset alcohol abuse was significantly more frequent in patients with bvFTD than those with Alzheimer’s-type dementia, while there was no difference between the frequency of lifelong alcohol abuse across the three dementia groups. They also found that alcohol abuse as a first symptom occurred in 1.4 percent of all patients, five times more frequently in patients with bvFTD than those with Alzheimer’s-type dementia. The results indicate not only that late-onset alcohol abuse is much more frequent in bvFTD than Alzheimer’s-type dementia, but also the likelihood that the biological mechanisms underlying late-onset and lifelong alcohol abuse are different. The presence of alcohol abuse was screened using the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center UDS questionnaire completed by clinicians during patient research visits. If you stop drinking, it’s possible to at least partially reverse the effects of alcohol-related dementia.
Abstinence of up to one year is linked with improved attention, working memory, and problem-solving abilities. However, learning and short-term memory impairments may be more difficult to reverse even with abstinence. The age of onset of alcohol-related dementia varies, but it’s often seen in middle-aged adults around 40 to 50 years old. However, it can occur earlier or later depending on the amount of alcohol a person consumes. While forgetfulness and short-term memory might be the first signs, a person may go on to experience difficulties with executive functioning (like organizing and planning) and, in a later stage, problems with motor abilities. You could potentially experience any combination of these effects when withdrawing from alcohol.
We examined associations of dementia with alcohol consumption in midlife, alcohol dependence, hospital admission for alcohol related disease, and trajectories of alcohol consumption over 17 years. In addition, we examined whether cardiometabolic disease modifies the association between alcohol consumption and dementia. The hazard ratio for abstinence compared to consumption of 1–14 drinks per week for developing any kind of dementia was 1.47, after adjusting for confounders (extensive assessment of sociodemographic data and cardiovascular health data). Diagnosis was made through linkage with mental health services data set, mortality register and national hospital episode statistics.
- If alcohol-related dementia is due to Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, thiamine may be given to help reduce the condition’s effects or completely reverse it in its early stages.
- “Ensure good quality education is available for all and encourage cognitively stimulating activities in midlife to protect cognition,” the prevention guidance continued.
- People with severe alcohol use disorder also tend to have nutritional deficiencies from a poor diet and irregular eating habits.
- “Alcoholic dementia” is an older term commonly used to describe the medical condition now known as alcohol-related dementia or alcohol-induced major neurocognitive disorder.
- Overall alcohol abuse—classified as when alcohol consumption negatively impacts work or social life or leads to legal ramifications—is present in 1.7 percent of older adults in the United States.
Sometimes, physical changes such as movement disorders or coordination problems can help differentiate types of dementia. Excessive alcohol use for many years is linked to alcoholic dementia, and some people can develop alcoholic dementia more rapidly than others. The results are reported in the April 4 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. If you suspect you have this condition, reach out to a healthcare professional as soon as possible to discuss treatment options.
There are some lifestyle behaviours with enough evidence to show that changing them will reduce your risk of dementia. When a person starts drinking more than around 25 units per week on a regular basis, it may start to affect their ability to think and function properly. A person may consider joining support groups or attending https://ecosoberhouse.com/ counseling or therapy if alcohol use is impairing their quality of life in the short and long term. Lewy body dementia is another progressive type of dementia that causes an accumulation of proteins called Lewy bodies in various brain areas. These areas are responsible for movement, emotions, behavior, memory, and cognition.
