Over Half of All Early-Onset Dementia Tied to Alcohol

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Some of the worst effects of severe alcohol use kick in later in life, including liver failure, breast cancer, and diabetes. Now, a new French study adds early-onset dementia to the list. The findings, just published in The Lancet, looked at characteristics of 57,353 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and similar conditions before they turned 65 years old. In 38.9% of the cases, dementia was directly due to neurological damage from drinking. In a further 17.6%, the direct link was absent but the patients nonetheless had an alcohol use disorder.

Speaking to the Guardian, Dr. Sara Imarisio of Alzheimer’s Research U.K. cautions that this may actually underrepresent the hazards. “The study … doesn’t reveal the full extent of the link between alcohol use and dementia risk. Previous research has indicated that even moderate drinking may have a negative impact on brain health and people shouldn’t be under the impression that only drinking to the point of hospitalization carries a risk.”

“Every year we have another study showing how the consequences of drinking too much destroy lives,” said Michael Scippa, Public Relations Director of Alcohol Justice. “And every year, Big Alcohol pours another hundred million bucks into telling us how alcohol should be part of a healthy lifestyle. It’s a joke.”

The Guardian notes that “the study was not set up to look at the effects of moderate drinking on people’s dementia risk.” Still, burgeoning evidence shows that the brain can be damaged even when the drinker sticks to government guidelines.