Heavy drinkers are at a risk of developing dementia, a progressive brain disease that generally begins with mild memory loss, suggests a study published in journal the Lancet Public Health. Alcohol use disorders are the most important preventable risk factors for the onset of all types of dementia, especially early-onset dementia, showed the study of one million adults diagnosed with dementia in France. Of the 57,000 cases of early onset dementia reported in the study, the majority were related to chronic heavy drinking.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines chronic heavy drinking as consuming more than 60 grams pure alcohol on average per day for men and 40 grams per day for women. "The findings indicate that heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders are the most important risk factors for dementia, and especially important for those types of dementia which start before age 65, and which lead to premature deaths," said study co-author Jurgen Rehm of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada. "Alcohol-induced brain damage and dementia are preventable, and known-effective preventive and policy measures can make a dent into premature dementia deaths," Rehm said.
On an average, alcohol use disorders shorten life expectancy by more than 20 years, and dementia is one of the leading causes of death for these people. While the overall majority of dementia patients were women, almost two-thirds of all early-onset dementia patients were men.
As a result of the strong association found in the study, the researchers suggested that screening, brief interventions for heavy drinking, and treatment for alcohol use disorders should be implemented to reduce the alcohol-attributable burden of dementia.
With Inputs from IANS