Alcohol and dementia

Around one in 11 people over 65 in the UK have dementia – a group of conditions that can affect your memory and the way you speak, think, feel, and behave.¹

But dementia isn’t a natural part of ageing. There are many factors which increase your risk including lifestyle. For example how much exercise you get, your diet or if you drink heavily – as well as things you can’t change like your age or genes.²

What is dementia?

Dementia is the collective term for a range of symptoms and signs related to the progressive decline of brain functions including memory, thinking skills, language, mood, and movement.³

There are many types of dementia – the most common are Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. Dementia is most common among people over 65, although there are some rarer types which can affect people under 65 and this is called ‘young onset dementia’.⁴

One thing all types of dementia have in common is that they are ‘progressive’ diseases. This means they get worse over time, although there are treatments available that can help relieve some symptoms if started soon enough.⁵

Does drinking alcohol increase the risk of developing dementia?

Every time you drink alcohol, it affects your brain. For example, it can make you feel less inhibited and less able to make clear judgments.⁶

If you regularly drink more than the UK Chief Medical Officers’ (CMOs’) low risk drinking guidelines and – in particular – if you binge drink repeatedly, you’re risking long-term effects for your brain and mental health and increasing your chance of developing dementia.^7,8

If you choose to drink alcohol, you should stick to the CMOs’ low risk drinking guidelines. Both men and women should drink no more than 14 units a week, spread over three or more days, with several drink-free days each week, and no bingeing.⁹

Research shows that the risk of dementia increases with people who regularly drink more than the recommended 14 units of alcohol each week.¹⁰ A pattern of heavy drinking also increases the risk of experiencing symptoms of dementia at a younger age (young-onset dementia).¹¹

Drinking a lot of alcohol in a short space of time (also known as binge drinking)¹² has been shown to be related to negative mood, severe mental health symptoms and worse memory.¹³

Binge drinking means drinking heavily over a short space of time. More than eight units of alcohol in a single session for men and more than six units in a single session for women is the technical definition.¹⁴ So, if a man drinks five 330ml bottles of 5% ABV beer in one session and a woman drinks three 175ml glasses of 12% ABV wine they would both be classed as binge drinking.¹⁵

Alcohol-related brain damage

Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) is harm caused to the brain because of regular heavy drinking or repeated binge drinking over several years (sometimes called ‘alcohol-related brain injury’).¹⁶

The toxic effect of alcohol can be particularly damaging for brain cells in a part of the brain called the hippocampus. Damage to this part of the brain – which regulates your emotions and behavioural responses and contributes to learning and memory – is frequently an early sign of dementia.¹⁷

Alcohol-related dementia

Alcohol-related dementia is one of a range of conditions that result from alcohol-related brain damage – but it is different to the other progressive forms of dementia, like Alzheimer’s disease.¹⁸

That’s because although alcohol-related dementia has many of the same symptoms, in some cases progression may be halted or even to some extent improved if the person stops drinking completely and permanently.¹⁹

If you have any physical withdrawal symptoms (for example shaking, sweating, or nausea) before you have your first drink of the day, it’s essential to get medical advice before you stop drinking completely. It can be dangerous to stop drinking too quickly without proper support if you have any of these symptoms and can even be fatal.²⁰

Wernicke’s Encephalopathy

Another serious brain illness caused by alcohol is called Wernicke’s Encephalopathy. This is caused when sustained heavy drinking leads to malnourishment, causing the brain to be deficient of the vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine), which is vital for your body to break down carbohydrates. Symptoms can happen suddenly and include problems with balance, confusion and vision.²¹

If Wernicke’s Encephalopathy isn’t treated it can be life threatening and lead to permanent brain damage. And if the treatment doesn’t happen quickly enough, it can also lead to a more long-term condition called Korsakoff’s Syndrome, which has similar symptoms to dementia – causing problems with concentration, memory and learning.²²

Korsakoff Syndrome

Korsakoff Syndrome is similar to dementia and can permanently damage your recent memory and balance. This is caused when sustained heavy drinking leads to malnourishment causing the brain to be deficient of the vital vitamin B1 – also known as thiamine.²³

An early sign of all these types of alcohol-related dementia is to have memory issues, lower concentration and worse mood.²⁴

In common with many other alcohol-related health harms, the likelihood of developing these problems increases the more you drink over time. And stopping drinking completely may in some cases be followed by limited improvement.²⁵