Date:
February 20, 2018
Source:
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Summary:
Alcohol use disorders are the most important
preventable risk factors for the onset of all types of dementia, especially
early-onset dementia. This according to a nationwide observational study of
over one million adults diagnosed with dementia in France.
Alcohol use disorders are the most important
preventable risk factors for the onset of all types of dementia, especially
early-onset dementia. This according to a nationwide observational study,
published in The Lancet Public Health journal, of over one million
adults diagnosed with dementia in France.
This study looked specifically at the effect of
alcohol use disorders, and included people who had been diagnosed with mental
and behavioural disorders or chronic diseases that were attributable to chronic
harmful use of alcohol.
Of the 57,000 cases of early-onset dementia (before
the age of 65), the majority (57%) were related to chronic heavy drinking.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines chronic
heavy drinking as consuming more than 60 grams pure alcohol on average per day
for men (4-5 Canadian standard drinks) and 40 grams (about 3 standard drinks)
per day for women.
As a result of the strong association found in this
study, the authors suggest that screening, brief interventions for heavy
drinking, and treatment for alcohol use disorders should be implemented to
reduce the alcohol-attributable burden of dementia.
“The findings indicate that heavy drinking and
alcohol use disorders are the most important risk factors for dementia, and
especially important for those types of dementia which start before age 65, and
which lead to premature deaths,” says study co-author and Director of the
CAMH Institute for Mental Health Policy Research Dr. Jürgen Rehm.
“Alcohol-induced brain damage and dementia are preventable, and
known-effective preventive and policy measures can make a dent into premature
dementia deaths.”
Dr. Rehm points out that on average, alcohol use
disorders shorten life expectancy by more than 20 years, and dementia is one of
the leading causes of death for these people.
For early-onset dementia, there was a significant
gender split. While the overall majority of dementia patients were women,
almost two-thirds of all early-onset dementia patients (64.9%) were men.
Alcohol use disorders were also associated with all
other independent risk factors for dementia onset, such as tobacco smoking,
high blood pressure, diabetes, lower education, depression, and hearing loss,
among modifiable risk factors. It suggests that alcohol use disorders may
contribute in many ways to the risk of dementia.
“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,” says CAMH
Vice-President of Research Dr. Bruce Pollock. “Screening for and reduction
of problem drinking, and treatment for alcohol use disorders need to start much
earlier in primary care.” The authors also noted that only the most severe
cases of alcohol use disorder — ones involving hospitalization — were
included in the study. This could mean that, because of ongoing stigma
regarding the reporting of alcohol-use disorders, the association between
chronic heavy drinking and dementia may be even stronger.
Story Source:
Materials provided by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
/story_source
Journal Reference:
- Michaël Schwarzinger, Bruce G Pollock, Omer S M Hasan,
Carole Dufouil, Prof Jürgen Rehm, QalyDays Study Group. Contribution of
alcohol use disorders to the burden of dementia in France 2008-13: a
nationwide retrospective cohort study. The Lancet Public Health,
2018 DOI: 10.1016/S2468-2667(18)30022-7
