Demented Drinkers?

It is not unreasonable to suspect that there might well be a strong impact of heavy alcohol ingestion on the risk of developing vascular dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease. A study, based on a French national hospital database, collected between 2008 and 2013, on more than a million patients diagnosed with dementia (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/feb/20/chronic-heavy-drinking-leads-to-serious-risk-of-dementia-study-warns) has suggested that more than one third of the 50+k patients with early onset dementia were heavy drinkers. This is, of course, a correlation rather than absolutely establishing causation but the connection might even be stronger, as getting accurate levels of alcohol ingestion from people is notoriously difficult (family members as well as principals are likely to routinely under-report alcohol intake). Sadly, the article concludes a) that periods of abstinence do not repair the neural damage induced by heavy drinking and b) there may be no real 'safe' level of alcohol intake.