Alcoholic Dementia: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment

This means it’s challenging to learn new information and remember things already learned. Other studies have found that drinking alcohol has other health risks; thus, your decision to drink alcohol should be discussed with your healthcare provider. If a person regularly drinks much more than the recommended limit of alcohol, it can damage their brain. It causes their memory and ability to think clearly to get worse over time, especially if the person drinks too much over many years. The causes of young-onset dementia, also known as early-onset dementia, are different from those in older people.

• While you don’t have to do the same things each day, knowing what time you wake up, eat meals, see loved ones, do activities, and go to sleep can go a long way in supporting your recovery journey.
• Other studies, however, have concluded that wine, beer, and liquor all have similar effects on cognition.
• This happens because alcohol addicts have become so used to this toxic substance that the body craves it regularly.
• It is not safe to drink alcohol if you are under the legal drinking age, pregnant, taking medications that can interact with alcohol, or are recovering from an alcohol or substance use disorder [11].
• If you or a loved one is living with AUD, it can be challenging to stop drinking.

However, a person will likely need to take thiamine supplements and stop or significantly cut back on alcohol consumption for the best results. When a medical professional suspects alcohol dementia, some experts recommend the use of prophylactic thiamine administration. Experts noted that France, well known for wine consumption, has an average 0.4% rate of alcohol-related dementia. There are two main https://ecosoberhouse.com/ subtypes, including Wernicke’s encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome, though experts may refer to them together as Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. The effects of alcohol-related dementia may be reversible, depending on your circumstances. Prompt treatment with thiamine (vitamin B1) for people with Wernicke encephalopathy can potentially prevent or lessen the development of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome.

Signs & Symptoms of Dementia

The majority of studies do not assess lifetime drinking trajectories. It is quite common for certain people to start abusing alcohol and some of the most predisposed persons are teenagers drinking, pregnant women, business professionals, and veterans. Various psychological factors also contribute to acquiring alcohol-related dementia as well as how prone is one person to get a mental illness.

Quitting drinking will prevent additional loss of brain function and damage. Also, improving the patient’s diet can help; however, diet does not substitute for alcohol abstinence in preventing alcohol-related dementia from worsening. If you stop drinking, it’s possible to at least partially reverse the effects of alcohol-related dementia. Research suggests it’s possible to experience partial recovery of your brain’s white matter, which is accompanied by an improvement in cognitive and motor abilities. ARD is a type of cognitive impairment that occurs as a result of heavy alcohol consumption over a long period. Alcohol withdrawal can be unpleasant and, sometimes, it even is dangerous.

How is Alcohol-Related Dementia Diagnosed?

The person will also be given fluids and salts, and high doses of thiamine (vitamin B1) by injection. Unlike Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia, alcohol-related ‘dementia’ is not certain to get worse over time. With the right treatment and support, there is often a good chance that it will stop getting worse or improve. A person with alcohol-related ‘dementia’ may be unsteady on their feet and more likely to fall over – even when they are sober.

• Along with memory issues, there are a host of other cognitive issues.
• This can take several weeks, and you may need to do this under medical supervision.
• It accounts for only 3 to 5 percent of dementia cases overall, though it’s responsible for a higher number, as many as 10 percent, of those with the early-onset form of dementia.
• Wernicke’s encephalopathy is a health condition encountered in patients who lack a certain substance called thiamine.

The alcoholism treatment consists of IV therapies and infusions which attempt to reestablish the proper nutritional balance of the body. Patients need to stay in clinics or hospitals for certain periods where they will be closely monitored and treated. Alcohol must be avoided at all costs during the treatment period, a thing which most alcohol abusers can alcoholism cause dementia find very hard to do. This happens because alcohol addicts have become so used to this toxic substance that the body craves it regularly. You may also find value in joining a support group for people who are living with alcoholic dementia or for caregivers so that you can meet with others who are coping with the same life stressors as you are.