They understand the complexities of alcohol-related concerns and can provide personalized treatment plans tailored to your needs. Furthermore, alcohol disrupts the normal functioning of neurotransmitters, impairs cognitive abilities, and affects essential brain regions involved in memory, learning, judgment, alcoholism treatment and decision-making. This disruption can accelerate the progression of FTD and exacerbate symptoms.
What Are the Causes of Alcoholic Dementia?
Their life expectancy may still be shorter than average, but treatment can offer a significantly better outlook. However, if you quit drinking, the effects of alcohol on the brain can be reduced. There is does alcoholism cause dementia evidence that cognitive function may even improve over time. While alcohol-related ‚dementia‘ is not really a type of dementia, heavy drinking – often over many years – definitely contributes to a person’s long-term risk.
- Being overweight or obese can increase the risk of various health conditions, including FTD.
- Additionally, medications that are indicated for treating dementia, such as Namenda (memantine), may be prescribed, but the benefits are not established for alcohol-related dementia.
- Its short-term effects, such as impaired judgment and coordination, are temporary and well-known.
- It can be hard to find services that provide more intensive support.
- With abstinence and the right supports, many people see meaningful improvements in memory, attention, mood, and executive function.
- The risk of alcohol-related cognitive decline depends highly on the quantity and frequency of consumption.
Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD): what is it and who gets it?
When people consume alcohol excessively over the years, it damages the brain’s neurons, leading to various cognitive issues. These issues may manifest as memory loss, trouble focusing, or difficulty with daily tasks. In this section, we’ll explore the different types of treatments available for individuals with alcohol-related dementia, including medical interventions and therapy.
Other Brain-Related Complications
Alcohol-related dementia often occurs in people who experience long-term alcohol misuse. Excessive, prolonged consumption can cause a vitamin deficiency, which can cause parts of the brain to deteriorate. A thiamine deficiency over a long period of time can cause brain atrophy or damage. Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome can occur due to other conditions, but misuse of alcohol is a common underlying factor for its development due to long-term vitamin deficiency. The best way to reduce your risk of alcohol-related dementia is to drink in moderation, if ever.
Common dementia symptoms of alcoholic dementia
Alzheimer’s disease is strongly correlated with specific types of brain changes, including compulsive protein buildup known as tau tangles and amyloid plaques. When a someone starts drinking more than around 25 units or more per week on a regular basis, it may affect their ability to think clearly and function. Most people with a diagnosis of ARBD drink considerably more than this for several years or more. “Essentially, many heavy drinkers may not live long enough to develop these conditions, which typically occur later in life,” says Justo. To treat alcoholic dementia, the primary approach involves abstinence from alcohol, as continued consumption worsens cognitive decline. A large study of 36,678 typically healthy middle-aged and older persons discovered similar associations between regular alcohol intake and brain alterations 5.
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. You’re not a failure or a lost cause because you have a health condition. Alcohol use disorder and dementia are both health conditions, not signs you’re weak or have made a mistake. Continuing to drink will increase the damage in your brain and can make you develop more severe symptoms. A healthcare provider can diagnose alcohol-related dementia in a few ways.
- A Drug Addiction Treatment Boston program offering dual diagnosis care ensures that both conditions are treated simultaneously, improving long-term outcomes.
- For people who drink daily and heavily, there isn’t always a safe or moderate amount of alcohol to consume.
- Think of it like fraying the lines between phone towers rather than smashing the towers themselves.
- In fact, it’s very important that they don’t suddenly stop drinking without medical help, as this can make their symptoms worse.
- If you or a loved one display any of these signs, it is essential to consult a healthcare professional for an accurate diagnosis.
Some people use the term ‘alcohol-related dementia’ to refer to alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD). However, it’s not really a type of dementia because, more of a brain injury. ARBD doesn’t always get worse over time, unlike common causes of dementia such as Alzheimer’s 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. Each stage is marked by the gradual worsening of symptoms, starting with mild cognitive impairments and progressing to severe neurological and behavioral dysfunctions.
Drinking a large amount of alcohol in a single session is known as ‘binge-drinking’. The NHS recommends not drinking more than 14 units of alcohol each week. You can usually see how many units are in an alcoholic drink by reading the label. Anyone who may have ARBD should not try to stop drinking by themselves without proper medical support. The results also showed that heavy and former heavy drinkers had higher odds of developing tau tangles (41 percent and 31 percent higher odds, respectively).