Dementia warning as drink beloved by Brits found to 'speed up' Alzheimer's disease progression

Many of us know that drinking alcohol isn't exactly the best thing to do for our health, with overindulgence linked to a higher risk of liver, heart disease and cancer. Now, scientists are warning it may also accelerate Alzheimer’s disease.

New research published in the eNeuro journal has uncovered that Alzheimer’s and alcohol use disorder (AUD) share similarly altered patterns of gene expression in the brain. This supports the notion that alcohol could speed up the progression of Alzheimer's. Senior study author Pietro Paolo Sanna, from Scripps Research, said: "We found several cell-type-specific genes and pathways that are dysregulated in both Alzheimer’s disease and alcohol, which supports the hypothesis that alcohol use disorder can accelerate Alzheimer’s disease progression by impinging on some of the same molecular mechanisms that are affected by Alzheimer’s.

"By understanding these dysregulations with this level of molecular detail, we can understand what’s causing these diseases, and we can also identify targets that could be used therapeutically." As part of their research, the team delved into ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing data from hundreds of thousands of individual brain cells taken from 75 patients at different stages of Alzheimer's disease.

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They did the same with 10 patients without Alzheimer’s. This showed that both AUD and Alzheimer’s are associated with similar gene expression changes in the brain, including upregulation of inflammatory genes and pathways, disruption to cell signalling and cell-death-related pathways, and changes to blood vessel cells.

Arpita Joshi, first author of the study, remarked: "What we’ve presented here is a differential analysis of two disorders that cause cognitive decline. It deepens our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and what the three clinically defined stages of Alzheimer’s entail, and it underscores the importance of considering alcohol use disorder as a risk factor for Alzheimer’s."

The researchers recognised the need for larger participant groups to validate their findings and said they plan on expanding upon this initial analysis with more extensive gene expression datasets from individuals with AUD. Joshi added: “We are eagerly awaiting the release of larger alcohol use datasets so that we can test the robustness of these findings and examine the commonalities between the two disorders with finer cell-type granularity.

“This is a global effort to unravel complex diseases at the single-cell level, which will lead to a better understanding of the molecular and cellular perturbations in individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, alcohol use disorder, and their interactions.”

The Alzheimer Society warns that the following factors can raise your risk of Alzheimer’s disease:

• High blood pressure

• Smoking

• Diabetes

• Obesity

• Lack of physical activity

• Poor diet

• High alcohol consumption

• Low levels of cognitive engagement

• Depression

• Traumatic brain injury

• Hearing loss

• Social isolation

• Air pollution

• Age

• Gender (women have a higher risk)

• Genetics.

If you are concerned about your drinking habits you should speak to your GP or visit nhs.uk/live-well/alcohol-advice/alcohol-support for information.

The NHS warns that there is “no completely safe level of drinking” but recommends drinking no more than 14 units of alcohol a week, spread across three days or more. That's around six medium (175ml) glasses of wine, or six pints of four percent beer.