Alcohol and dementia risk: A complex relationship

Brain donation helps researchers study brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. By studying the brains of people who have died, researchers have already learned a great deal about how types of dementia affect the brain and how we might better treat and prevent them. When donating as part of a research study or to the NIH NeuroBioBank, there is no cost to the family for can alcoholism cause dementia the donation and an autopsy report. Cox regression was used in all analyses, with age as the timescale to model the associations with hazard of incident dementia. Participants were censored at date of record of dementia, death, or 31 March 2017, whichever came first. Models were first adjusted for sociodemographic factors, then additionally for health behaviours, and finally for health status.

• The process takes time to develop, but it can be an incurable disease.
• The doctor will also do a full physical examination and take a detailed history of the person’s symptoms and how they are affecting their life.
• However, increasing the dose of alcohol is very easy, and this can lead to major health problems.
• Remarkably, at the same time, they can seem to be in total possession of their faculties, able to reason well, draw correct deductions, make witty remarks, or play games that require mental skills, such as chess or cards.
• In the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), it is referred to as alcohol-induced major neurocognitive disorder.

If you or a loved one begins to develop signs of alcoholic dementia, it’s important to see a healthcare provider as soon as possible. Alcoholic dementia is gradually progressive, and it worsens over time. Medical treatment and getting treated for alcohol addiction may help prevent the condition from getting worse. Thiamine deficiency is common among people with alcohol use disorder, which is a problem because nerve cells require thiamine to function properly.

Side Effects of Withdrawal

You may also choose to share your diagnosis with supportive family and friends—you don’t have to navigate your condition alone. 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. However, vitamin B1 treatment rarely improves the loss of memory that takes place once Korsakoff psychosis has developed. Early treatment is the key to successfully treating alcohol-related dementia. If caught early enough, patients with the more general type of ARD can significantly improve their condition by quitting alcohol and eating a balanced diet.

Reducing heavy alcohol use may be an effective dementia prevention strategy. The link between https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/why-is-alcohol-addictive/ (or lack thereof) in non-drinkers however is not fully understood and individuals who do not currently drink alcohol should not start as a method of protection against the development of dementia. On many non-medical websites, the terms wet brain and alcohol-related dementia are often used interchangeably, creating significant confusion. Additionally, the term alcohol-induced persistent dementia is another nonspecific name that is sometimes used. The study defined moderate drinking as consuming 1–13 standard drinks per week, equivalent to 10–130 grams (g) per week. Around one in six American adults drink to excess, and almost half of the United States population drank alcohol in 2020.

The Start and Progression of Alcoholic Dementia

Regardless of type of alcohol consumed, the risk of dementia increased linearly, starting around 14 units/week (appendix figure S5). Subsidiary analyses examining potential bias due to differential misclassification of dementia suggested our main findings on the association of alcohol consumption with dementia to be robust (appendix table S7). Excessive alcohol consumption leads to numerous health problems such as liver damage, stomach issues, impaired cognitive function, insomnia after drinking alcohol, dizziness, and more. If alcoholic beverages are consumed in large quantities over a relatively short period of times, most health problems can be cured relatively easily using special treatment and by quitting drinking. However, if one abuses alcohol throughout many years, this doesn’t only lead to liver cirrhosis, but also a condition called alcoholic dementia. This health condition usually results in improper neurological functioning and serious cognitive issues.

When the researchers investigated the potential impact of APOE E4, they found no significant effect, which mirrors several previous studies. The authors theorize that the lack of effect might be because the association is more pronounced in younger populations; they call for further investigation. Using a daily average in this way misses the nuances of alcohol quantity and frequency. JR and OSMH performed the main systematic searches and the methodological studies to assure inter-rater reliability. JR wrote a first draft of the paper, and all authors participated in revising the draft to its current form and approved the final version. According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025, drinking in moderation consists of no more than one or two drinks daily for females and males, respectively.