Grog link to dementia

HEAVY drinking may be a major risk factor for earlyonset dementia, new research suggests.

Scientists who looked at 57,000 cases of dementia diagnosed before the age of 65 found that 39 per cent could be attributed to alcohol-related brain damage. Brain damage associated with drinking was thought to be responsible for three per cent of all the dementia cases investigated.

The French study involved more than a million hospital patients with dementia and alcohol-related brain damage between 2008 and 2013.