Chronic alcohol drinking is identified as the biggest risk to the early onset of dementia based on a study involving more than 1 million adults in France affected by the condition. Roughly 46.8 million people worldwide live with dementia and this figure was expected to reach 50 million last year. In 2050, it is predicted that dementia will affect 131.5 million people. Dementia costs the world economy over $818 billion in medical and social care as well as unpaid, informal care (Alzheimer’s Disease International). The results of the study may alert the healthcare sector to pay attention to alcohol consumption as a preventable risk factor for all forms of dementia, especially early onset dementia.

Alcohol Affects Mental Health

Many studies already associate alcohol consumption with negative mental health effects. For example, alcohol and drugs increase the risk of schizophrenia later in life by 3.5 times (Nielsen et al, 2017). Treatment and management of schizophrenia would, therefore, involve elimination of substance abuse. In the case of hospitalized patients involved in the study in France, the effects of alcohol on the brain were studied suggesting several ways the substance could lead to dementia. Ethanol and acetaldehyde (its by-product) are toxic to brain cells and damage their functioning.

Alcohol is also associated with vascular risk factors including cardiovascular diseases, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Chronic drinking was also clustered among those with lower education, depression and smoking habits. All these factors though are independent risk factors for dementia. The research findings revealed that 57% of early-onset dementia cases (before reaching 65 years) affecting 57,000 people was linked to chronic alcohol use.

Implications for Early Health Interventions

The results of this large-scale study have several implications for the healthcare sector. To reduce the burden of alcohol-related dementia, early screening and interventions for heavy drinkers can be implemented. This would decrease the incidence of early-onset dementia. Alcohol use disorders also shorten life expectancies by as much as 20 years and by treating these problems, dementia-related deaths are expected to go down.

Dr. Bruce Pollock, Vice-President of Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, says, “As a geriatric psychiatrist, I frequently see the effects of alcohol use disorder on dementia, when, unfortunately, alcohol treatment interventions may be too late to improve cognition. Screening for and reduction of problem drinking, and treatment for alcohol use disorders need to start much earlier in primary care.”

Dementia is a brain disease that interferes with the daily life of affected individuals. If risk factors such as alcohol abuse are reduced or eliminated, there is no reason why people should not have a good quality of life as they age and not succumb to the condition or its early-onset.