Urgent action is needed to prevent a ‘silent
epidemic’ of alcohol-related dementia in the UK, psychiatrists have
warned.
Writing in
the November issue of the British Journal of
Psychiatry, two London-based psychiatrists with a special
interest in dementia discuss the potential impact of increasing
alcohol consumption among young and middle-aged people.
Dr Susham Gupta, a specialist registrar in
adult and old age psychiatry, and Dr James Warner, a consultant in
older adults’ psychiatry, observe that attitudes towards alcohol
have changed significantly over the last few decades. Not only has
society taken a more relaxed attitude to drinking, but alcohol has
become cheaper and more widely available.
The price of alcohol relative to average UK
income has halved since the 1960s, while per capita consumption of
alcohol has nearly doubled from less than six litres a year in the
early 1960s to over 11.5 litres per year in 2000. If this trend
continues, the UK will become Europe’s biggest per capita consumer
of alcohol within a decade.
Previous research has shown that excessive
alcohol consumption can lead to loss of brain tissue, and that
binge drinking is associated with an increased risk of
dementia.
Given the neurotoxic effects of alcohol – and
the seemingly inexorable rise in heavy drinking – the authors of
the paper conclude that we are likely to see a surge in cases of
alcohol-related dementia in future generations.
This problem may be compounded by the fact
that more people are using recreational drugs such as ecstasy,
whose long-term effects on the brain are still unclear.
Dr Gupta and Dr Warner describe
alcohol-related dementia as an “under-recognised problem”, and call
for the development of new tools to help doctors assess the risks
of alcohol-related cognitive impairment.
Better public education about heavy drinking
and the risk of developing dementia is also needed, although Dr
Gupta and Dr Warner acknowledge that awareness campaigns may be
both “unpopular and ineffective”. “This might need similar
legislation to that used in the fight against tobacco-related
health problems,” they conclude.
For further information, please contact Liz Fox or Deborah
Hart in the Communications Department.
Telephone: 020 7235 2351 Extensions. 6298 or 6127
References:
Gupta S and Warner J (2008), Alcohol-related dementia: a 21st-century silent epidemic?, British Journal of Psychiatry, 193: 351-353