
Alcohol use disorder largest risk factor for dementia - tomq
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180220183954.htm
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pwthornton
I've been reading Why We Sleep, a really good and important book about sleep
from a noted sleep research and professor of neuroscience Matthew Walker. Some
of this intuitively makes sense based on his research.

Alcohol interfers with sleep, specifically the ability to remember information
and to form new memories by harming and reducing REM sleep. This effect lasts
for stuff you learned days earlier (read a book on Monday, get drunk on
Wednesday night and you'll remember less than you would have otherwise).
Alcohol and sleep don't mix. He recommends you drink earlier in the day (the
closer to bed time the worse) and to not consume too much.

Based on this book, I largely no longer drink during the week after work (he
also recommends not drinking caffeine much past noon). I've changed my habits,
and am sleeping better.

Better sleep will make your mind sharper. It's not just the amount of sleep
you are getting, however. Quality is really important. Alcohol interferes with
our ability to sleep, specifically, REM sleep, and if you allow decades of
daily interference with such a critical life system, I could see it leading to
cognitive decline. Even if you don't get dementia, drinking alcohol too late
in the day will cause cognitive issues.

~~~
ballenf
Bavarians with their Weißbier (wheat beer) for breakfast were right all along.

~~~
pwthornton
Walker literally says the best time to drink is at breakfast (for the mind at
least).

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sbarker
Well I don't drink to remember...

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wheels
This is specifically for "heavy drinking". In case folks are wondering how
that's defined (per the study, computed based on volume of 60 g of ethanol),
it's:

\- 1.5 L of beer (at 5% ABV)

\- 0.5 L of wine (at 14% ABV)

~~~
bvm
per day. Every day.

~~~
hackerman12345
It's hard to believe someone with that habit lives long enough to get
dementia.

~~~
dsego
People get dementia in their 50ies and 60ies, sometimes earlier. It's not the
most common, but it happens. Also, the brain begins to degrade years before
symptoms are noticed, usually subtle changes in behavior.

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mzs
study (pdf): [http://www.thelancet-
press.com/embargo/dementiaalcohol.pdf](http://www.thelancet-
press.com/embargo/dementiaalcohol.pdf)

press release:
[http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/about_camh/newsroom/news_rele...](http://www.camh.ca/en/hospital/about_camh/newsroom/news_releases_media_advisories_and_backgrounders/current_year/Pages/Largest-
study-of-its-kind-finds-alcohol-use-biggest-risk-factor-for-dementia.aspx)

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lawnchair_larry
Getting mixed messages here! Also today: [http://www.newsweek.com/drinking-
alcohol-tied-long-life-new-...](http://www.newsweek.com/drinking-alcohol-tied-
long-life-new-study-813013)

~~~
actuallyalys
Not really. The study in Newsweek is about moderate drinking, not disordered
drinking. Also there are plenty of confounding factors in that study. If
you're healthy in your 90s, you're more likely to be at social events where
you drink, for example.

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ukulele
*Alcohol abuse is largest risk factor

> Most reviews point to a possible beneficial effect of light-to-moderate
> drinking on cognitive health... By contrast, heavy drinking seems
> detrimentally related to dementia risk, whatever the dementia type.

~~~
mi100hael
_> Most reviews point to a possible beneficial effect of light-to-moderate
drinking on cognitive health._

Citation needed

~~~
mikaraento
Until five years ago the consensus view was that moderate alcohol consumption
lowered all-cause mortality compared to non-drinkers.

Latest meta-analyses say that after controlling for reasons behind non-
drinkers (‘former alcoholics’) the effect disappears.

Good starting point is
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26997174/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/26997174/)

~~~
ideonexus
Thank you for sharing this research. As someone who abstains from drinking and
is very health-conscious, I've been conflicted about all the research
supposedly showing health benefits of moderate drinking. The evidence just
seemed too intuitive. This gives me something to explore.

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Isamu
Heavy drinking. Given this is France, what is heavy drinking?

~~~
batty_alex
It's defined in the article. Around 4-5 standard drinks a day for Men or 3 for
Women. Which is quite a bit of drinking.

~~~
teamhappy
Where 1 "Canadian standard drink" is 1 bottle of beer, 1 glass of wine or 1
shot of liquor.

Source: [http://www.rethinkyourdrinking.ca/what-is-a-standard-
drink/](http://www.rethinkyourdrinking.ca/what-is-a-standard-drink/)

~~~
Steve44
That shot size is 43ml so 5 shots totals 215ml of 40% spirits. In the UK a
single is 25ml so it's equivalent of 8.6 'singles' / 4.3 'doubles'.

~~~
teamhappy
Didn't see the unit, sorry.

So, 1 standard drink = 1 bottle of beer = 1 reasonable glass of wine = 2 shots
of liquor.

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edmanet
I'll drink to that

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testvox
I am surprised it's not age...

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lev99
The scientific article states alcohol use disorder, not alcohol use.

The scientific article is about early onset dementia, not all dementia.

The scientific article uses a large sample size, but the entire population is
French.

I would rewrite the title "Alcohol use disorder is the largest risk factor for
early onset dementia in French population."

~~~
mannykannot
I'm not French and I am not close to anyone who is, so there is nothing in
here of any possible relevance to me?

While there are a lot of posters here eager to point out the limits to what
this study formally investigates, the inclusion of the French dimension
underscores my suspicion that finding a reason to regard this study as
irrelevant to one's specific circumstances is not the best way of looking at
it.

~~~
EnFinlay
I didn't write the parent comment, but I don't think what they're trying to do
is

> finding a reason to regard this study as irrelevant to one's specific
> circumstances

It's more about being precise about what exactly the study found. There's a
real problem with legitimate studies being reported as something sensational,
and then when the headline is proven to be false the public loses respect for
the scientific process.

~~~
lev99
> There's a real problem with legitimate studies being reported as something
> sensational, and then when the headline is proven to be false the public
> loses respect for the scientific process.

I'm the author of the root comment. This phenomenon is one of my greatest
disappointments in the modern internet. More than drm, surveillance, and
commercialization. The internet is the best avenue for public education we've
seen, but instead it's used to sell high sodium processed food and $15/month
entertainment subscriptions. The education (on the internet) has to be watered
down to be entertainment, because the entire platform is becoming
entertainment.

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Mitchhhs
I don't like when titles obscure the actual findings. It should be Alcohol
abuse largest risk factor for dementia. Its not just drinking alcohol, its
drinking alcohol problematically.

~~~
dajohnson89
Is "problematically" a well-defined term in this study?

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rebuilder
The title doesn't seem accurate. The summary says:"Alcohol use disorders are
the most important preventable risk factors... "

Furthermore, the article states:"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."

So while I'm quite convinced that prolonged alcohol abuse has serious
consequences, I don't think the claim that it is the single biggest risk
factor of dementia across the population is supported by this study, as
described by the article linked anyway.

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erikrothoff
The title should probably be changed. The study was looking at "chronic heavy
drinking" and "Alcohol use disorders". Not "alcohol use" in general.

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batty_alex
The title is terribly inaccurate. The study specifically mentions chronic
heavy drinking and alcohol use disorders as the problem, not alcohol itself.

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jrs95
Shit.

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SubiculumCode
Of course, people who drink that much may have other issues that lead to said
dementia, and alcohol use was a (poor) self-medication.

Then again, that is a lot of alcohol. Bound to have some negative effect.

~~~
dsego
I know schizophrenia can develop into dementia if not treated. Perhaps
depression, anxiety and other mental disorders also result in faster brain
deterioration. I've also found studies linking calming pills like xanax and
valium to earlier dementia.

