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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
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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 

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