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Midlife alcohol abuse increases memory impairment later in life

Severe memory impairment later in life is twice as likely among middle-aged adults with a history of alcohol-use disorders, according to new study findings published in The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

“We already know there is an association between dementia risk and levels of current alcohol consumption — that understanding is based on asking older people how much they drink and then observing whether they develop problems,” Iain A. Lang, PhD, of the University of Exeter Medical School, United Kingdom, said in a press release. “But this is only one part of the puzzle and we know little about the consequences of alcohol consumption earlier in life. What we did here is investigate the relatively unknown association between having a drinking problem at any point in life and experiencing problems with memory later in life.”

Iain A. Lang

Lang and colleagues evaluated 6,542 middle-aged adults born between 1931 and 1941 who were first followed up in 1992 and then biannually from 1996 to 2010 to determine the effect of alcohol-use disorder (AUD) on memory.

At baseline, those with a history of AUDs were younger, less educated, more likely to be male, more likely to have a lower socioeconomic status, to smoke, consume more than one alcoholic drink per day, have a history of cardiovascular disease or having been unconscious due to a head injury, have depressive symptoms, lower baseline cognitive function and shorter follow-up compared with those without a history of AUDs.

Severe cognitive impairment was present in 90 participants during follow-up and 74 had severe memory impairment.

The odds of memory impairment were increased with a history of AUDs (OR=2.21; 95% CI, 1.27-3.85). Likewise, the risk for severe cognitive impairment was almost doubled with a history of AUDs (OR=1.96; 95% CI, 1.04-3.7).

Lower memory (P=.01) and lower cognitive function (P=.03) at follow-up was significantly associated with a history of AUDs.

“This finding — that middle-aged people with a history of problem drinking more than double their chances of memory impairment when they are older — suggests three things: that this is a public health issue that needs to be addressed; that more research is required to investigate the potential harms associated with alcohol consumption throughout life; and that the CAGE questionnaire may offer doctors a practical way to identify those at risk of memory/cognitive impairment and who may benefit from help to tackle their relationship with alcohol,” Lang said.

Disclosure: See the study for a complete list of the researchers’ relevant financial disclosures.