Facts About Alcoholic Dementia

Alcohol is a dangerous, addictive substance that is nonetheless legal and socially acceptable in America. Alcohol consumption is often associated with holidays, major life events like weddings, or recreational events like sporting events and parties. It can cause tremendous harm to the body, despite its prevalence in society. While there are a number of symptoms that come with drinking heavily, one of the worst is alcoholic dementia. It’s essential to understand this symptom and addiction treatment. 

What Is Alcoholic Dementia?

Drinking to excess for many years can lead to alcoholic dementia. Dementia is a neurocognitive disorder. Many factors can bring on traditional dementia, but alcoholic dementia is unique because chronic alcoholism causes it. When suffering from this condition, people have learning, memory, and cognitive problems.

Mental Damage

The damage that alcohol does to the brain is irreversible. People who suffer from this type of dementia have already damaged many of their brain cells. This damage can manifest as a variety of symptoms, which include the following:

• Personality changes
• Problems with memory
• Difficulty learning new things
• Difficulty making decisions,
• Problems with clear, logical thinking that requires planning, common sense, or social skills
• Balance issues

In many ways, this condition is similar to Alzheimer’s disease.

Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome

One of the main afflictions that accompany alcoholic dementia is Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. This condition is really two different disorders that may occur together or independently. The conditions include Korsakoff Psychosis and Wernicke’s encephalopathy.

Korsakoff psychosis typically starts as Wernicke symptoms begin to fade. Korsakoff syndrome affects the ability to learn new information, remember recent events, and creates long-term memory gaps. Memory problems can be quite severe, while other thinking and social skills are relatively unaffected. For example, individuals may engage in coherent conversation but, seconds later, cannot recall the conversation or with whom they were speaking. Doctors believe that this psychosis appears because of the damage that Wernicke’s encephalopathy causes to different areas of the brain.

Wernicke encephalopathy is a type of neurological damage resulting from a B-vitamins deficiency, a common problem among chronic drinkers. It presents a number of symptoms, but they usually include some form of weakening or paralysis to eye muscles which affects eye movements, a change to gait or speech, and confusion.

What Causes Dementia in Alcoholics?

The symptoms of alcoholism differ from person to person. Why is it that some people develop dementia from alcoholism while others don’t? Doctors believe that two factors play a role in determining who gets dementia.

First is how much people drink. The more people drink, the more likely they are to develop problems related to alcoholism and dementia.

Next is the nutritional deficiency that alcohol causes in the body. People who drink typically have a thiamine or vitamin B1 deficiency. Studies suggest that this deficiency may play a role in the development of dementia.

In fact, studies show that a chronic lack of vitamin B1 in anyone is enough to cause dementia. Thiamine helps cells in the brain produce energy from sugar. If there’s not enough thiamine, the cells can’t produce energy and don’t function properly.

Get the Help That You Need to Overcome Alcohol Addiction

The most important thing to do when chronic alcohol addiction is the diagnosis is to get help. The longer you go without receiving treatment, the harder it is to overcome addiction. At Beaches Recovery, we pride ourselves on offering people many addiction treatment options. Some of these include:

• Intensive outpatient program
• Dual diagnosis treatment
• Extended care
• Sober living

Get the help and support you need to overcome your alcohol or drug addiction. Let us lead you down the path to recovery. Reach out to Beaches Recovery today at 866.605.0532.