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Alcohol & Dementia: How Alcohol Impacts Memory Loss

There are some lifestyle behaviours with enough evidence to show that changing them will reduce your risk of dementia. The results are reported in the April 4 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. Excessive alcohol may compromise executive functions in people with dementia and can lead to memory, learning, problem-solving, and judgment problems. Individuals may also be irritable, have sudden outbursts, and have issues with coordination and balance. Research considers alcohol neurotoxic, meaning it damages the brain. It can reduce the size of the hippocampus, the area of the brain responsible for learning and memory.

can alcoholism cause dementia

Other factors that have links to the development of dementia may include infections, such as HIV or neurosyphilis, or thyroid disorders. Around one in six American adults drink https://ecosoberhouse.com/ to excess, and almost half of the United States population drank alcohol in 2020. Excessive drinking can cause long-term effects such as stroke, heart disease, and cancer.

Treatment for alcoholic dementia

Alcohol and dementia are strictly related in this case because too much alcohol prevents normal neurological functioning which leads to dementia, a serious brain condition that can affect people of all ages who abuse alcohol. The alcoholic dementia symptoms are varied, and this health condition can be influenced by two important factors such as Wernicke’s encephalopathy and the Korsakoff syndrome. But these effects can be slowed — and sometimes reversed — if you stop drinking. However, the study’s authors posited that it wasn’t just the lack of alcohol that contributed to abstainers’ increased dementia risk.

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Neither of these are actual types of dementia, because you cannot get better from dementia, and there is some chance of recovery in both of these conditions. A lot of the brain damage that is caused by alcohol happens because it prevents the body from getting  enough thiamine (vitamin B1). ARBD is caused by a person regularly drinking or binge-drinking much more alcohol than the recommended limit.

Research into alcohol and dementia risk

“Overall, no evidence was found that alcohol consumption between 1 unit/week and 14 units/week increases the risk of dementia,” the study’s authors explained. If that were not sufficient cause for concern, researchers on alcohol-related brain damage also point out that thiamine deficiency frequently accompanies excessive alcohol can alcoholism cause dementia use. Alcohol disrupts thiamine metabolism, and heavy drinkers may also neglect balanced nutrition. There is enough evidence to show that excessive alcohol consumption increases a person’s risk of developing dementia. Dementia is a globally increasing health issue and since no cure is currently available, prevention is crucial.

  • This can take several weeks, and you may need to do this under medical supervision.
  • A 2016 study found that heavy drinking, equating to eight or more drinks per week, and drinking liquor increased cognitive decline among people with AD.
  • After the first part of treatment, a person with alcohol-related ‘dementia’ will need support from different kinds of services.
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Older individuals are more vulnerable to the short- and long-term effects of alcohol use on their brains. Thiamine deficiency can cause dementia, which is progressive and permanent memory loss. Alcohol affects short-term memory by slowing down how nerves communicate with each other in a part of the brain called the hippocampus.

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Some People Should Not Drink Alcohol

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. 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. Previous research has identified lifelong alcohol abuse as a risk factor for dementia. However, it has been unknown whether older adults who begin abusing acohol late in life have an underlying neurodegenerative disease. Alcoholic dementia, or alcohol-related dementia, is a severe form of alcohol-related brain damage caused by many years of heavy drinking.

  • A person who has ARBD won’t only have problems caused by damage to their brain.
  • By Esther Heerema, MSW

    Esther Heerema, MSW, shares practical tips gained from working with hundreds of people whose lives are touched by Alzheimer’s disease and other kinds of dementia.

“Multistate models showed that part of the excess risk of dementia in abstainers was attributable to the greater risk of cardiometabolic disease in this group,” the study’s authors explained. You may also find value in joining a support group for people who are living with alcoholic dementia or for caregivers so that you can meet with others who are coping with the same life stressors as you are. Sometimes, knowing what to expect and how others have managed challenges can help provide a source of comfort and community. In addition to a physical examination and medical history, your healthcare provider may order diagnostic testing to help reach specific causes for dementia symptoms.

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This is a common deficiency in people who misuse alcohol, but it can also occur due to other disorders or conditions. Alcohol-related dementia is a type of brain disorder where a person develops issues with thinking or processing and memory. If you stop drinking, it’s possible to at least partially reverse the effects of alcohol-related dementia. Research suggests it’s possible to experience partial recovery of your brain’s white matter, which is accompanied by an improvement in cognitive and motor abilities. The first part of treatment for alcohol-related dementia aims to help you stop drinking alcohol. This can take several weeks, and you may need to do this under medical supervision.

In people with young-onset dementia (who are younger than 65 years old) ARBD affects about one in eight people. It is likely – for a wide range of reasons – that the condition is under-diagnosed. This means that the number of people living with ARBD is probably higher. The different types of damage are linked to different types of ARBD.

This is similar to someone living with dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Recovering from alcohol use disorder can be challenging and what works for one person may not work well for another, so you may wish to try different treatment options [1]. But he said the Lancet research did not change the current advice and did not suggest that moderate alcohol intake could cause early-onset dementia. But there is also agreement that more research is needed to work out the role played by the volume of alcohol consumed against how often alcohol is drunk – and how this affects the risk of early-onset dementia. Moderate alcohol drinking is classified as drinking one alcoholic drink a day for women and two a day for men. Light drinking describes those who drink less than moderate drinkers but more than those who totally abstain from alcohol.

  • These changes may hinder the brain from functioning properly, causing cognitive decline.
  • For example, if the person stops drinking alcohol, takes high doses of thiamine and starts eating a balanced diet.
  • While this matter has not been fully settled, most experts agree that heavy drinkers have a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Marixie Ann Manarang-Obsioma is a licensed Medical Technologist (Medical Laboratory Science) and an undergraduate of Doctor of Medicine (MD).
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