Alcohol dementia
Encyclopedia
Alcohol dementia, which is sometimes associated with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
, is a form of dementia
caused by long-term or excessive drinking resulting in neurological damage and memory loss
. Other names for the condition are alcoholic dementia, alcohol related dementia and alcohol-induced persisting dementia. Alcohol dementia causes serious cognitive problems in many alcoholics and up to 10% of patients diagnosed with dementia have a history of prolonged alcohol abuse.
dementia are essentially the same as the symptoms present in other types of dementia, making alcohol dementia difficult to diagnose. There are very few qualitative differences between alcohol dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and it is therefore difficult to distinguish between the two. Some of these warning signs may include memory
loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks, poor or impaired judgment and problems with language. However the biggest indicator is friends or family members reporting changes in personality.
Anyone who drinks excessive amounts of alcohol over a long period of time is at risk of succumbing to alcohol related dementia. Some people are at a greater risk than others. A male who drinks six or more alcoholic drinks a day is placing himself at a greater risk; the same goes for females who have four or more alcoholic drinks daily. However, this type of drinking would have to be sustained for a substantial amount of time.
It is a common myth that only the elderly are afflicted with types of dementia. This is particularly untrue regarding alcohol dementia, the onset of which can occur as early as age thirty, although it is far more common that the dementia will reveal itself anywhere from age fifty to age seventy. The onset and the severity of this type of dementia is directly correlated to the amount of alcohol that a person consumes over his or her lifetime.
Alcohol has a direct effect on brain
cells. The front part of the brain is where most of the brain cells are affected, resulting in poor judgment, difficulty making decisions, and lack of insight. Long-time alcohol abuse can often lead to poor nutrition
problems causing parts of the brain to be damaged by vitamin deficiencies. These problems could also cause personality changes in some people.http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/dementia/a/aa990714.htm
(DSM-IV)
. Recovery is more easily achievable for women than men, but in all cases it is necessary that they have the support of family and friends and abstain from alcohol.
There is a case study of a patient who was treated with memantine; the patient was a 71 year old female who was treated with memantine for five weeks, at a dosage of 30 mg/daily to help improve memory and cognitive functioning. After the five week treatment the patient had shown improvement on the Mini-Mental State Examination
from 18 to 22 points and her tests on the CERAD
(Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease) improved from zero to five on the Wordlist Recall and six to eight on the Drawing test. This is the only study of its kind but has promising outcomes for further research.
Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
Wernicke–Korsakoff syndrome is a manifestation of thiamine deficiency, or beriberi. This is usually secondary to alcohol abuse...
, is a form of dementia
Dementia
Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...
caused by long-term or excessive drinking resulting in neurological damage and memory loss
Memory loss
Memory loss can be partial or total and it is normal when it comes with aging. Sudden memory loss is usually a result of brain trauma and it may be permanent or temporary. When it is caused by medical conditions such as Alzheimers, the memory loss is gradual and tends to be permanent.Brain trauma...
. Other names for the condition are alcoholic dementia, alcohol related dementia and alcohol-induced persisting dementia. Alcohol dementia causes serious cognitive problems in many alcoholics and up to 10% of patients diagnosed with dementia have a history of prolonged alcohol abuse.
Symptoms and diagnosis
The symptoms of alcoholAlcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
dementia are essentially the same as the symptoms present in other types of dementia, making alcohol dementia difficult to diagnose. There are very few qualitative differences between alcohol dementia and Alzheimer’s disease and it is therefore difficult to distinguish between the two. Some of these warning signs may include memory
Memory
In psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
loss, difficulty performing familiar tasks, poor or impaired judgment and problems with language. However the biggest indicator is friends or family members reporting changes in personality.
Anyone who drinks excessive amounts of alcohol over a long period of time is at risk of succumbing to alcohol related dementia. Some people are at a greater risk than others. A male who drinks six or more alcoholic drinks a day is placing himself at a greater risk; the same goes for females who have four or more alcoholic drinks daily. However, this type of drinking would have to be sustained for a substantial amount of time.
It is a common myth that only the elderly are afflicted with types of dementia. This is particularly untrue regarding alcohol dementia, the onset of which can occur as early as age thirty, although it is far more common that the dementia will reveal itself anywhere from age fifty to age seventy. The onset and the severity of this type of dementia is directly correlated to the amount of alcohol that a person consumes over his or her lifetime.
Alcohol has a direct effect on brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
cells. The front part of the brain is where most of the brain cells are affected, resulting in poor judgment, difficulty making decisions, and lack of insight. Long-time alcohol abuse can often lead to poor nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
problems causing parts of the brain to be damaged by vitamin deficiencies. These problems could also cause personality changes in some people.http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/dementia/a/aa990714.htm
Criteria for diagnosis
Criteria for alcohol-induced persistent dementia in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental DisordersDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is published by the American Psychiatric Association and provides a common language and standard criteria for the classification of mental disorders...
(DSM-IV)
- A. The development of multiple cognitive deficits manifested by both:
- MemoryMemoryIn psychology, memory is an organism's ability to store, retain, and recall information and experiences. Traditional studies of memory began in the fields of philosophy, including techniques of artificially enhancing memory....
impairment (impaired ability to learn new information or to recall previously learned information) - One (or more) of the following cognitive disturbances:
-
- a) AphasiaAphasiaAphasia is an impairment of language ability. This class of language disorder ranges from having difficulty remembering words to being completely unable to speak, read, or write....
(language disturbance) - b) ApraxiaApraxiaApraxia is a disorder caused by damage to specific areas of the cerebrum. Apraxia is characterized by loss of the ability to execute or carry out learned purposeful movements, despite having the desire and the physical ability to perform the movements...
(impaired ability to carry out motor activities despite intact motor function) - c) AgnosiaAgnosiaAgnosia is a loss of ability to recognize objects, persons, sounds, shapes, or smells while the specific sense is not defective nor is there any significant memory loss...
(failure to recognize or identify objects despite intact sensory function) - d) Disturbance in executive functioning (i.e. planning, organizing, sequencing, abstracting)
- a) Aphasia
- Memory
- B. The cognitive deficits in criteria A1 and A2 each cause significant impairment in social or occupational functioning and represent a significant decline from a previous level of functioning.
- C. The deficits do not occur exclusively during the course of a delirium and persist beyond the usual duration of substanc' intoxication or withdrawal.
- D. There is evidence from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings that deficits are etiologically related to the persisting effects of substance use (e.g. drug of abuse; medication).
Treatments
If the symptoms of alcohol dementia are caught early enough, the effects may be reversed. The person must stop drinking and start on a healthy diet, replacing the lost vitamins, including, but not limited to, thiamineThiamine
Thiamine or thiamin or vitamin B1 , named as the "thio-vitamine" is a water-soluble vitamin of the B complex. First named aneurin for the detrimental neurological effects if not present in the diet, it was eventually assigned the generic descriptor name vitamin B1. Its phosphate derivatives are...
. Recovery is more easily achievable for women than men, but in all cases it is necessary that they have the support of family and friends and abstain from alcohol.
There is a case study of a patient who was treated with memantine; the patient was a 71 year old female who was treated with memantine for five weeks, at a dosage of 30 mg/daily to help improve memory and cognitive functioning. After the five week treatment the patient had shown improvement on the Mini-Mental State Examination
Mini-mental state examination
The mini–mental state examination or Folstein test is a brief 30-point questionnaire test that is used to screen for cognitive impairment. It is commonly used in medicine to screen for dementia...
from 18 to 22 points and her tests on the CERAD
MCI Screen
The MCI Screen is a brief neuropsychological test derived from the protocol of the CERAD 10-word recall test. The protocol consists of an immediate recall task, a triadic comparison task, a judgment task, a delayed free recall task, a cued-recall task, and a rehearsed recall task...
(Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease) improved from zero to five on the Wordlist Recall and six to eight on the Drawing test. This is the only study of its kind but has promising outcomes for further research.