Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T12:34:55.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Effects of a History of Heavy Alcohol Consumption on Alzheimer's Disease

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Jules Rosen ,
Angela Colantonio ,
James T. Becker ,
Oscar L. Lopez ,
Steven T. Dᴇkosky  and
Howard B. Moss
Jules Rosen*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry
Angela Colantonio
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Epidemiology
James T. Becker
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology
Oscar L. Lopez
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology
Steven T. Dᴇkosky
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology
Howard B. Moss
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Pittsburgh, USA
*
∗Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Neuropsychological and psychiatric evaluations were made of 39 subjects with possible Alzheimer's disease and a history of excessive alcohol consumption (AD + ETOH), who had been abstinent or had drunk minimally for at least three months before evaluation, and 225 patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (PAD) of comparable age, years of education, and baseline global impairment. At baseline, there were no significant differences between the groups in terms of age of onset of dementia, neuropsychological test scores, or current behavioural or psychiatric symptoms. One year later, no differences in rates of decline between 20 abstinent AD + ETOH patients and 88 PAD subjects could be shown. Thus, past heavy alcohol consumption does not appear to modify the presentation of dementia of the Alzheimer's type, nor does it modify progression over a one-year interval.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 3 , September 1993 , pp. 358 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn) (DSM-III-R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Ancoli-Israel, S., Klauber, M. R., Butters, N., et al (1991) Dementia in institutionalized elderly: relation to sleep apnea. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 39, 258–263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Arendt, T., Henning, D., Gray, J. A., et al (1988) Loss of neurons in the rat basal brain cholinergic projection system after prolonged intake of ethanol. Brain Research Bulletin, 21, 563–569.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barclay, L. L., Zemcov, A., Blass, J. P., et al (1985) Factors associated with duration of survival in Alzheimer's disease. Biological Psychiatry, 20, 86–93.Google Scholar
Benton, A. L., Hamsher, K., Varney, N. R., et al (1983) Contributions to Neuropsychological Assessment: A Clinical Manual. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Boller, F., Lopez, O. L. & Moossy, J. (1989) Diagnosis of dementia: clinicopathologic correlations. Neurology, 39, 76–79.Google Scholar
Brandt, J., Butters, N., Ryan, C., et al (1983) Cognitive loss and recovery in long-term alcohol abusers. Archives of General Psychiatry, 40, 435–442.Google Scholar
Folstein, M. F., Folstein, S. E. & McHugh, P. R. (1975) ‘Mini Mental State’: a practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.Google Scholar
Hachinski, V. C., Iliff, L. D., Zilhka, E., et al (1975) Cerebral blood flow in dementia. Archives of Neurology, 32, 632–637.Google Scholar
Hansen, L. A., Natelson, B. H., Lemere, C., et al (1991) Alcohol-induced brain changes in dogs. Archives of Neurology, 48, 939–942.Google Scholar
Huff, F. J., Corkin, S. & Growdon, J. H. (1986) Semantic impairment and anomia in Alzheimer's disease. Brain and Language, 28, 235–249.Google Scholar
Huff, F. J., Corkin, S. & Growdon, J. H., Mack, L., Mahlman, J., et al (1988a) A comparison of lexical semantic impairments in left hemisphere stroke and Alzheimer's disease. Brain and Language, 34, 262–278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huff, F. J., Corkin, S. & Growdon, J. H., Mack, L., Mahlman, J., Protetch, J., Saxton, J., et al (1988b) Subscales of the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale: development and application in patients with Alzheimer's and vascular dementia. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 36, 672–675.Google Scholar
Hughes, C. P., Berg, L., Danziger, W. L., et al (1982) A new clinical scale for the staging of dementia. British Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 566–572.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, B. & Parsons, O. A. (1971) Impaired subtracting ability in chronic alcoholics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 71–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, B. & Parsons, O. A. (1972) Specific vs. generalized deficits of abstracting ability in chronic alcoholics. Archives of General Psychiatry, 26, 380–384.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaszniak, A. W., Wilson, R. S., Fox, J. H., et al (1986) Cognitive assessment in Alzheimer's disease: cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives. Canadian Journal of Neurological Science, 13, 420–423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lishman, W. A. (1986) Alcoholic dementia: a hypothesis. Lancet, i, 1184–1186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lopez, O. L., Swihart, A. A., Becker, J. T., et al (1990) Reliability of NINCDS-ADRDA clinical criteria for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 40, 1517–1522.Google Scholar
Mattis, S. (1976) Mental status examination for organic mental syndrome in the elderly patient. In Geriatric Psychiatry: A Handbook for Psychiatrists and Primary Care Physicians (eds Beliak, L. & Karasu, T. B.), pp. 77–121. New York: Grune & Stratton.Google Scholar
McKhann, G., Drachman, D., Folstein, M., et al (1984) Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease. Neurology, 34, 939–944.Google Scholar
Mezzich, J. E., Dow, J. T., Rich, C. L., et al (1981) Developing an efficient clinical information system for a comprehensive psychiatric institute: II. Initial evaluation form. Behavioural Research Methods and Instruments, 13, 464–478.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mezzich, J. E., Dow, J. T., Rich, C. L., Fabrega, H., Coffman, G. A., et al (1987) Comprehensively diagnosing geriatric patients. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 28, 68–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raven, J. C. (1956) Coloured Progressive Matrices. Los Angeles, CA: Western Psychological Services.Google Scholar
Rocca, W. A., Amaducci, L. A. & Schoenberg, B. S. (1986) Epidemiology of clinically diagnosed Alzheimer's disease. Annals of Neurology, 19, 415–424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosen, J. & Zubenko, G. S. (1991) Emergence of psychosis and depression in the longitudinal evaluation of Alzheimer's disease. Biological Psychiatry, 29, 224–232.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, C. & Butters, N. (1980) Learning and memory impairments in young and old alcoholics: evidence for the premature-aging hypothesis. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 4, 288–293.Google Scholar
Salmon, D. P., Kwo-on-Yuen, P. F., Heindel, W. C., et al (1989) Differentiation of Alzheimer's disease and Huntington's disease with the Dementia Rating Scale. Archives of Neurology, 46, 1204–1208.Google Scholar
Saunders, P. A., Copeland, J. R. M., Dewey, M. E., et al (1991) Heavy drinking as a risk factor for depression and dementia in elderly men: findings from the Liverpool longitudinal community study. British Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 213–216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stern, Y., Mayeux, R., Sano, M., et al (1987) Predictors of disease course in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 37, 1649–1653.Google Scholar
Tarter, R. E. (1975) Brain damage associated with chronic alcoholism. Diseases of the Nervous System, 36, 185–187.Google Scholar
Tarter, R. E. & Parsons, O. (1971) Conceptual shifting in chronic alcoholics. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 77, 71–75.Google Scholar
Tarter, R. E. & Parsons, O., Van Thiel, D. H., Arria, A. M., et al (1988) Impact of cirrhosis on the neuropsychological test performances of alcoholics. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 12, 619–621.Google Scholar
Teri, L., Hughes, J. P. & Larson, E. B. (1990) Cognitive deterioration in Alzheimer's disease: behavioural and health factors. Journal of Gerontology, 45, 58–63.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Victor, M. & Adams, R. D. (1985) The alcoholic dementias. In Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Vol. 2 (ed. Frederiks, J. A. M.), pp. 335–352. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Victor, M. & Adams, R. D. & Collins, G. H. (1989) The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome and related neurologic disorders due to alcoholism and malnutrition. Contemporary Neurology Series, Vol. 3, pp. 119–128. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis.Google Scholar
Wechsler, D. (1945) A standardized memory scale for clinical use. Journal of Psychology, 19, 87–95.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.