The alcohol abuse and the risk to develop dementia

Is there a connection between the alcohol abuse and the risk to develop dementia, especially early dementia, namely before the age of 65? It seems that there is, according to this latest study (Schwarzinger et al., 20 February 2018) that collects all the results of one of the largest researches performed on the topic by French and Canadian scientists and published on The Lancet Public Health, prestigious online journal of medical related researches. The study has analyzed the habits and the lifestyle of more than a million adults taken to French hospitals from 2008 to 2013 and that had a dementia diagnosis, a condition characterized by a deterioration of the cognitive abilities. Among these studied samples, 58000 had an early dementia diagnosis, caused mostly by alcohol abuse, that in this study has been considered 4-5 glasses for men and 3 glasses for women. The men, in respect to women, have a higher probability to develop dementia at an early age, while women have a higher probability to develop this disease in old age. The study shows also that, in general, the alcohol abuse is linked to a risk three times higher to develop a form of dementia caused by the neurotoxic effect of ethanol and by other factors induced by alcohol abuse such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, epilepsy. In addition to this, the alcohol abuse goes also with other dangerous habits such as smoking or with conditions such as depression. The research is of great interest because it has been able to show the connection between alcohol and brain diseases, especially that characterized by an early occurrence, however it is not just the alcohol abuse with consequent hospital recovery that can increase the risk to develop a disease, according to Dr Sara Imarisio, head of the research group at the Alzheimer’s Research UK, also drinking in a moderate way can have a negative influence on the health of the brain.