Recovering From Alcoholic Dementia
Addiction occurs when your brains pleasure and reward centers adapt to the presence of alcohol and drugs. As your tolerance grows, it will become increasingly harder to derive pleasure from formerly enjoyable hobbies, and your relationships will start suffering. Eventually, a substance use disorder can take over every aspect of your life, including your physical and mental health.
Fortunately, brain plasticity means it is possible to reverse some of the damage caused by alcohol abuse. The same principles that hardwired self-destructive patterns into your life can help you learn new ones. Thanks to neuroplasticity, you can retrain your brain to overcome addiction and heal from alcoholic dementia.
Low Levels Of Thiamine
A lot of the brain damage that is caused by alcohol happens because it prevents the body from getting enough thiamine . This is a vitamin that the brain needs to work properly.
People who are addicted to alcohol are also much less likely to have a balanced diet. They often get a lot of their energy from alcoholic drinks. This means that over months and years they have a higher risk of malnutrition, including a lack of vitamins such as thiamine .
Can Alcohol Cause Dementia
People who do not binge drink or become dependent on alcohol do not need to worry about an alcohol-dementia link, says Nikola Djordjevic, MD. “Alcohol consumption in moderate amounts has not been found to cause dementia or any other cognitive impairments. However, excessive use and abuse in old age have been associated with changes in brain structure that increase the risk of Alzheimerâs and variants of dementia,” he explains.
A 2018 study found that heavy drinking increased the risk of dementia by about three times. Alcoholism may increase the risk of certain medical conditions that damage the cardiovascular system, including high blood pressure. Research increasingly links both heart disease and heart disease risk factors to an elevated risk of developing dementia.
Alcoholism may also cause a rare type of dementia called Korsakoff syndrome, according to The Alzheimer’s Association. This dementia appears when a person is deficient in thiamine/vitamin B1, a deficiency that is more prevalent among chronic alcoholics.
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Inclusion And Exclusion Criteria
Reviews or meta-analyses were included if they described the systematic search process with listed databases and search terms. Narrative reviews without an explicit search strategy were excluded. In addition, included studies were restricted to systematic reviews that assessed the relationship between alcohol use and cognitive health, dementia, AD, vascular and other dementias, brain function, or memory. Systematic reviews on the association between alcohol use and brain structures were also included. Studies were included if they were published in 2000 or later in order to include only reviews which were undertaken using methodological standards similar to those used today however, this does not mean that the original studies underlying these reviews were restricted to 2000 or later .
How To Treat And Prevent Alcoholic Dementia
Alcohol dementia treatment can be quite stressful for patients to undertake, but it is necessary to prevent more dangerous health problems and even death. The alcoholism treatment consists of IV therapies and infusions which attempt to reestablish the proper nutritional balance of the body. Patients need to stay in clinics or hospitals for certain periods where they will be closely monitored and treated. Alcohol must be avoided at all costs during the treatment period, a thing which most alcohol abusers find very hard to do. This happens because alcohol addicts have become so used to this toxic substance that the body craves it regularly. Alcoholism support groups are very helpful in these cases.
Dementia from alcohol abuse can also be treated with Thiamine therapy which brings the much-needed nutrients back into a sufferers body. This treatment improves the neurological functioning of the patient and prevents dementia from advancing to more dangerous stages. Patients must also receive proper counsel from professional therapists to discover the root causes of their alcohol addiction and to eliminate them. If proper treatment is administered on time, alcoholic abusers might have a chance of living an alcohol-free and happy life. The rehabilitation facility for alcoholics is the best option to contact to learn more about the recovery process.
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Associations Between Dimensions Of Alcohol Use And Specific Brain Functions
The systematic reviews that assessed the relationship between alcohol use and the resulting effects on brain structures and specific brain functioning assessed diverse associations. Verbaten tested the hypothesis that low to moderate drinking had beneficial effects on brain structure studies) and cognitive performance . In the MRI studies, a linear negative association was observed between the volume of alcohol consumed and brain volume and grey matter, and a positive linear association was observed between the volume of alcohol consumed and white matter volumes . However, when restricted to people aged 65years and older, low to moderate alcohol use was related to grade of white matter integrity and cognition in a curvilinear manner . A recently published large-scale study with a follow-up at 30years, which measured alcohol use every 5years and involved multiple MRI images and cognitive tests, concluded that alcohol use, even at light or moderate levels, was associated with adverse brain outcomes, including hippocampal atrophy , thereby corroborating the general results of the systematic review by Verbaten for people under 65years of age.
The Start And Progression Of Alcoholic Dementia
Dementia caused by alcoholism can appear to people of all ages, and it usually starts as a result of abusing alcohol regularly for many years. Alcohol addicts develop the Wernickes encephalopathy first, and then this causes the Korsakoff syndrome. Ultimately, the serious memory problems caused by Korsakoff syndrome will lead to alcoholic dementia. The process takes time to develop, but it can be an incurable disease. The Wernickes encephalopathy appears because heavy drinkers lose thiamine from the body as a result of frequent and long binge drinking episodes. Most alcohol addicts do not replenish this vital substance , and as a result, alcoholic dementia can appear.
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Strengths And Limitations Of This Study
The present study has several strengths. Repeat assessment of alcohol consumption allowed us to assess mean midlife alcohol consumption in order to minimise biases due to measurement error, examine associations with dementia of trajectories of alcohol consumption between midlife and early old age, and examine whether age modifies associations between alcohol consumption and dementia. These features, along with a mean follow-up period of 23 years, allowed a comprehensive assessment of the association of alcohol consumption with dementia. Besides measurement error, studies that recruit participants at older ages are not able to assess the excess risk in those who change their alcohol consumption with age. We were also able to examine the shape of the association between alcohol consumption > 14 units/week and dementia, which was similar to that reported in a recent meta-analysis.7 Dose-response assessment by meta-analysis can be problematic for heavy alcohol consumption as the estimate is constrained to the mean or median consumption in the high alcohol consumption category.7 Finally, we used multistate models to examine the role of cardiometabolic disease and we undertook further analyses to take the competing risk of mortality into account where results were similar to those obtained using Cox regression, increasing confidence in our main findings.
How Much Did They Drink
No-one knows exactly. All we know is that they had alcohol use disorders which meant that their excessive drinking had become harmful and caused a serious health problem.
But we do know that drinking to this extent is likely to increase the risk of high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke and heart failure, which can also increase the risk of dementia.
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How Is Arbd Treated
A person who has ARBD wont only have problems caused by damage to their brain. They will usually also be addicted to alcohol. This means that they have become dependent on it. Addiction can make it much more difficult to treat a person with ARBD. This is because professionals need to treat the persons alcohol addiction together with their symptoms related to memory and thinking.
Alcohol Consumption With Dementia
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with dementia, it is important to speak honestly with your doctor about alcohol use, and they can discuss whether it is safe to consume alcohol. Only your physician can provide accurate and specific advice on this. However, since the consumption of alcohol can worsen and accelerate dementia symptoms, your doctor may advise you to cut back or abstain from alcohol entirely, especially for people who drink heavily or have been long-term drinkers.5 Although most forms of dementia are irreversible and chronic, symptoms of alcohol-related dementia can be halted or reversed if drinking is stopped and you follow a healthy diet with vitamin supplementation.8
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How Is Arbd Different From Dementia
ARBD doesnt always get worse over time, unlike common causes of dementia such as Alzheimers disease. If a person with ARBD stops drinking alcohol and receives good support, they may be able to make a partial or even full recovery. They may regain much of their memory and thinking skills, and their ability to do things independently.
How Long Does Rehabilitation Take
A person should usually see the most improvement in their abilities during the first three months after they stop drinking alcohol. However, for some people this improvement could continue for as much as two or three years.
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Who Does Alcohol Dementia Affect
Alcohol-related dementia isnt generally a concern for people who drink rarely or in moderation. In fact, many studies show that mild to moderate alcohol use may reduce the likelihood of dementia, according to a systematic review published in the journal Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment.
While African Americans, Hispanic people, and women are more likely to experience dementia in general, men are more likely to develop alcohol dementia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention .
Alcohol dementia primarily affects:
- People over the age of 40, though the likelihood increases with age
- People who drink in excess over a long period of time
- People with severe nutritional deficiencies caused by alcohol consumption
Research suggests that a history of drinking 28 alcoholic beverages a week for women or 35 for men increases the risk of developing alcohol-related dementia, according to the journal Alzheimers Research and Therapy.
Alcohol Intake Linked To Dementia Risk
27 September 2019
Researchers in the US have revealed that alcohol intake in later life is linked with dementia risk. Their findings are published today in the journal JAMA.
The research team looked at over 3000 people living in the US. The study participants were over the age of 72 and didnt have dementia at the beginning of the study. Participants recorded the amount of alcohol they drank and completed memory and thinking tests. The researchers then followed volunteers over several years to see if they went on to develop dementia.
The researchers found that people who abstained from drinking were at increased risk of dementia. Those who drank more than 14 alcoholic drinks per week also increased their dementia risk.
Dr Sara Imarisio, Head of Research at Alzheimers Research UK, said:Theres a well-established link between heavy drinking and the risk of dementia, but it is difficult to say whether moderate alcohol intake has any impact on brain health when compared to not drinking at all.
Some non-drinkers may have a history of heavy alcohol use, and this makes it difficult to untangle links between drinking habits and health.
This study only looked at peoples drinking in later life, and we dont know about their drinking habits in their earlier years. Research suggests that our lifestyle in middle age may have the greatest impact on our future risk of dementia.
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Moderate Drinking And Ad
A 2020 study showed that moderate alcohol intake could lower a persons risk of developing Alzheimers disease.
The study defined moderate drinking as consuming 113 standard drinks per week, equivalent to 10130 grams per week.
However, drinking guidelines do vary per country. A standard drink contains , or 0.6 ounces , of pure alcohol in the United States.
Generally, this is equivalent to:
- 12 oz of beer with 5% alcohol: approximately one beer
- 5 oz of wine with 12% alcohol: one standard glass of wine
- 8 oz of malt liquor with 7% alcohol: one standard glass of malt liquor
- 1.5 oz of liquor or distilled spirits with 40% alcohol: a standard shot glass of spirit
A found a significant association between reducing a persons alcohol consumption with a lower risk of cognitive impairments and dementia.
Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People
Existing health inequalities put Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at increased risk of dementia, with higher rates of chronic diseases, and alcohol and tobacco use in Indigenous communities.7
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are three to five times more likely to develop dementia than non-Indigenous Australians, and this is likely under-reported.8
Dementia is viewed differently in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Its not always seen as a medical condition. It can go undiagnosed and overlooked due to the many other chronic health issues Indigenous people face.9
The lack of culturally sensitive screening tools and delays in diagnosis mean Indigenous people with dementia and their families face barriers to accessing medical treatment, information and support.9
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Seeking Help For Alcohol Use And Addiction
The best way to prevent alcoholic dementia and other health complications related to chronic alcohol use is to seek treatment for alcohol addiction. While this decision can be difficult, it can quite literally save your life and improve your overall health and wellbeing. Vertava Health offers a variety of treatment programs catered to helping individuals overcome alcohol use disorders.
To learn more about alcoholic dementia and the alcohol addiction treatment programs we offer, contact an Vertava Health treatment specialist today.
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So What’s The Link With Dementia
Research shows that heavy drinking can increase the risk of developing dementia.
Alcohol abuse is toxic to the brain and can damage memory. It has also been shown to accelerate vascular brain damage. In other words, it’s bad for your brain.
The Lancet Public Health has published new research from France on more than one million adults with dementia. Researchers found that being hospitalised with alcohol dependence or a health issue caused by continuous heavy drinking was a strong risk factor for the progressive brain condition, especially in the under-65s.
Their risk of dementia was three times greater than other people’s.
But it’s difficult to know whether it was a direct cause or just one factor among many.
Heavy drinkers are more likely to be smokers, have depression and lead unhealthy lives, which increases the risk of dementia.
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What Are The Different Types Of Arbd
Usually a person is diagnosed with a specific type of ARBD. Depending on their symptoms, they may have one of several conditions, including:
The two main types of ARBD that can cause symptoms of dementia are alcohol-related dementia and WernickeKorsakoff syndrome. 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.
Getting Help For Alcohol Abuse And Addiction
It can be difficult to stop using alcohol, even if its causing alcohol-related dementia signs to occur. Anyone with an alcohol use disorder should seek professional medical help to prevent further complications while working toward addiction recovery.
Alcohol addiction treatment options include outpatient and inpatient treatment. Outpatient treatment involves going to regular physical and mental health appointments to get treatment and learn how to overcome alcohol addiction while otherwise keeping any work and social obligations. Inpatient treatment requires more dedication and involves living in a rehab center to get intensive treatment that is more likely to have a lasting effect.
The Recovery Village offers high-quality inpatient and outpatient treatment options across the country. We invite you to contact us to learn how to get started on your journey to lasting recovery from the effects of alcohol addiction.
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Increased Risk Of Head Injuries
If a person regularly drinks too much alcohol, they also have a higher risk of repeated head injuries. While under the effects of alcohol they may fall and hit their head, or receive blows to the head in fights or as victims of violence. Both can cause lasting damage to the brain.
A person with ARBD may experience all of these types of damage. The different types of damage are linked to different types of ARBD. For example, WernickeKorsakoff syndrome is most closely linked with low levels of thiamine .
Should Someone With Alzheimers Or Dementia Drink Alcohol
While there is still some debate on whether alcohol can cause Alzheimers disease, there is a clear consensus that those who already have Alzheimers disease or dementia should not drink alcohol. Alcohol causes cognitive impairment that can greatly increase the risk of injury with these conditions. Someone who is drinking may also forget how much alcohol they have consumed, increasing the risk of alcohol poisoning. Alcohol could also speed disease progression.
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Associations Between Alcohol Use And The Incidence Of Cognitive Impairment/dementia Including Dose
The systematic reviews published after 2000 which studied the associations between alcohol use and the incidence of cognitive impairment or dementia were often coupled with meta-analytic summaries, typically based on cohort studies which primarily measured the effect of other modifiable risk factors, usually measured at baseline , on the hazard or risk of being diagnosed with cognitive impairment or dementia or dying from dementia. See Table for a summary of these reviews.
The majority of these systematic reviews indicated that there was a statistically significant association between light to moderate alcohol use and a lower risk of being diagnosed with cognitive impairment and different types of dementia and dying from dementia. However, two systematic reviews found inconsistent results . Furthermore, chronic heavy alcohol use was associated with an increased risk of being diagnosed with either cognitive impairment or dementia. There also was an association found between engaging in irregular heavy drinking and the risk of being diagnosed with either cognitive impairment or dementia . In several reviews , the potential of an interaction between alcohol use and the presence or absence of the apolipoprotein E 4 allele and the resulting risk of either cognitive impairment or dementia was also examined, albeit based on a limited number of studies with substantial heterogeneity .