Can Alcohol Cause Dementia?

Picture our brain as an intricate highway system with thoughts and memories zooming around like speedy race cars. Now imagine alcohol as fog rolling in, slowing down, and even misdirecting these cars at times. This is one way to think of the complex relationship between dementia, brain health, and drinking. Does alcohol cause dementia? Research shows that it can.

Ready to learn more about the link between alcohol and dementia risk? Strap in, and let's journey together into the science behind drinking and dementia, and how to use this information to guide our everyday decisions.

How Does Alcohol Cause Dementia?

Our brain is an incredible organ, but excessive drinking can affect it in various ways. Alcohol’s impacts on memory are related to a key neurotransmitter called acetylcholine, which our brain uses to communicate. Alcohol is notorious for disrupting acetylcholine production: it's like the network towers gradually starting to go down, and our messages get lost or delayed.

But that's not all; long-term heavy drinking can cause brain shrinkage. Our brain physically becomes smaller, losing volume in white matter. This can eventually affect how the brain functions. Clearly it can do a lot of damage, but does alcohol cause dementia? Let’s find out!

Alzheimer’s and Alcohol

The topic of dementia and acetylcholine deficiency brings up a closely related subject: Alzheimer’s disease. Are alcohol and Alzheimer's connected? Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that causes memory loss, cognitive decline, and changes in behavior, often linked to a reduction in the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

Research shows that alcohol can contribute to the development of Alzheimer's by accelerating brain cell damage and increasing inflammation, which harms the areas responsible for memory and learning. In fact, alcohol can actually cause memory loss even faster than Alzheimer's by disrupting the brain's ability to form new memories and impairing short-term recall.

Dementia and Drinking: What Do the Stats Say?

Let's look at some research. Dementia is like a thief, gradually making off with precious memories. But did you know that alcohol can act as an accomplice? 

The CDC reports that around 4% of Americans over the age of 65 have some kind of dementia –– and most cases (60-80%) are attributed to Alzheimer’s disease. The risk increases with age, rising to 13.1% by age 74. Alcohol and Alzheimer's are a dangerous combination, both in that alcohol can increase Alzheimer’s risk and that it can also worsen the disease progression in people who already have it. While Alzheimer’s is marked by a gradual loss of memory and changes to the brain, other causes of dementia include Lewy body and vascular dementia. 

Most research indicates that heavy, long-term alcohol use can increase the risk of developing dementia of any form. In fact, people who drink more than 14 standard drinks a week have an increased risk of dementia and a higher likelihood of onset at earlier ages. Alcohol and dementia risk are unambiguously related — let’s talk about how it works.

Alcohol disrupts how nerve cells communicate in our brain, like static over a telephone line. In time, this static can cause confusion, memory loss, and in some cases, dementia. 

Further, excessive drinking is thought to cause tau proteins to accrue in the brain. Tau proteins cause tangles in the brain, a hallmark of dementia brought on by Alzheimer’s disease.

Test tube studies suggest that alcohol might impede an important process called phagocytosis, in which white blood cells surround beta-amyloid protein fragments and get rid of them. Over time, this accumulation leads to the formation of plaques that promote Alzheimer's disease –– similar to tau proteins.

What’s more, excessive drinking can increase the risk of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) –– a condition brought about by a chronic vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency that mimics dementia in its symptoms. 

When it’s caused by excessive drinking, thiamine absorption is impaired in the gut. Much research remains to be done on WKS, but without treatment, it can result in permanent memory loss.

The Silver Linings

The science is on our side –– and research indicates that reducing alcohol intake can reduce our risk of dementia. 

Remember that foggy highway from earlier? Imagine we install traffic lights and signs to guide the cars better. That's what cutting back on our drinking can do — it can clear up the fog and help our mental traffic flow more smoothly.

The relationship between alcohol and dementia is complex, and there’s a lot still left to understand. There are, however, ways in which we can reduce our risk.

1. Track alcohol intake. Like setting a speed limit on our highway, it's beneficial to set a limit on our alcohol intake. Reframe can help you track your drinking habits to get a better sense of the big picture.
2. Embrace mindful social activities. Instead of meeting friends at a bar, try a walk in the park, a game night, or even a cooking session. If you really feel like cutting loose, there are plenty of sober-friendly drinks these days you can order at any bar to help you cut back.
3. Regular health check-ups. Keeping up with regular doctor's visits and health screenings can help detect potential issues early, making them easier to address.

It's never too late to change our habits and make healthier choices! Arming ourselves with an understanding of alcohol’s impact on the brain can help keep the fog in the distance. By understanding the link between Alzheimer's and alcohol or dementia and alcohol, we have the power to change our own behaviors and build a brighter, healthier future.