Binge drinking in middle age tied to dementia risk

By Amy Norton

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Middle-age adults who go on
periodic drinking binges may face a heightened risk of dementia
later in life, a new study suggests.

Researchers found that even among adults who usually drank
moderately, those who occasionally binged were more likely than
their peers to develop dementia over the next 25 years.

Overall, middle-age adults who binged at least once a month
– downing, for instance, five bottles of beer or a bottle of
wine in one sitting — had a three-times greater risk of
developing dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease.

The findings are published in the medical journal
Epidemiology.

It’s not surprising that binge drinking was related to a
higher dementia risk, study co-author Dr. Jaakko Kaprio of the
University of Helsinki, in Finland, told Reuters Health.
However, the risk had not been well documented before, he said.

The study included 554 Finnish adults who provided
information on their health and lifestyle, including drinking
habits, in 1975, when they were 40 years of age or older.
Twenty-five years later, they took a standard test of mental
functioning used to diagnose dementia.

Kaprio’s team found that those who reported binge drinking
at least once a month in 1975 were at greater risk of dementia
later in life — even if they drank only lightly to moderately
between binges.

In a follow-up to the original survey, conducted in 1981,
the researchers additionally asked respondents whether they had
ever imbibed to the point of passing out. Those who said they’d
done so at least twice were 10 times more likely than their
peers to be diagnosed with dementia later in life.

Chronic heavy drinking has been linked to dementia risk in
past studies, and alcoholism can sometimes lead to dementia due
to toxic effects on brain cells or to deficiency in the B
vitamin thiamine.

Periodic binge drinking may contribute to dementia by
directly killing off brain cells, Kaprio explained, or possibly
by raising the odds of falls and head injuries, which can
predispose a person to dementia.

Studies have found binge drinking to be common among
college students and other young adults, and research suggests
that short-term problems with memory and attention are among
the consequences.

Coupled with the current findings on middle-age adults,
Kaprio said, this raises the possibility that binge drinking at
a young age may also contribute to dementia later on. On the
other hand, he noted, the brain’s “plasticity” may allow it to
better recover from alcohol damage inflicted in young
adulthood.

More research, according to Kaprio, is needed to answer
that question.

SOURCE: Epidemiology, November 2005.