Drinking Problems Tied to Higher Risk of Early Dementia

A study published in the Lancet Public Health suggests heavy drinkers may be more prone than other adults to develop dementia, especially in middle age, reports Reuters . The researchers examined data from 2008-2013 on more than 31 million French persons who were hospitalized, including more than 1 million diagnosed with dementia. About 5 percent of the people with dementia had early onset dementia that started before age 65, and most of these cases were alcohol-related. "Chronic heavy drinking was the most important modifiable risk factor for dementia onset in both genders and remained so after controlling for all known risk factors for dementia onset," notes Translational Health Economics Network CEO Dr. Michael Schwarzinger. "Surprisingly, heavy drinkers who got sober didn't have a lower dementia risk than their peers who remained problem drinkers." In the course of the study period, 945,512 people were diagnosed with alcohol use disorders, with most of these cases rated as alcohol dependency. About 3 percent of the dementia cases were attributable to alcohol-related brain damage, and other alcohol use disorders were noted in nearly 5 percent of dementia cases. However, with early onset dementia cases, the link to alcohol appeared stronger. About 39 percent of these cases were attributable to alcohol-related brain damage, and an additional 18 percent were connected to other alcohol use disorders. These disorders were associated with triple the risk of dementia and double the risk of early onset cases.