Passing Out Drunk Could Double Risks of Dementia

A new study warns that losing consciousness from alcoholic excess, or passing out drunk, may double the risks of developing dementia later in life.

Researchers from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University College London examined more than 130,000 diagnoses of dementia across European adults who also reported drinking habits 14 years ago.

The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open on September 9, identified that those who passed out after drinking had a two-fold increased risk of developing dementia. It also applied to people who identified themselves as moderate drinkers who only binge on occasion.

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MUNICH, GERMANY - SEPTEMBER 22: Participants wearing traditional, regional folk dress sit down for beer and lunch after marching in the annual parade of Bavarian and international folk culture associations during the opening weekend of the 2019 Oktoberfest on September 22, 2019, in Munich, Germany.

Drinking and Passing Out

Researchers behind the latest study built on the results of seven separate and prior studies on the same subject - establishing links between alcohol intake and the risks of developing dementia later in life.

The study covered a total of 131,415 participants, with an average age of 43 years old, across the United Kingdom, France, Finland, and Sweden. Participants were classified into either heavy or moderate drinkers after accomplishing a questionnaire that inquires about their drinking habits.

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Out of the total participants, 103,290 of them were later classified as heavy drinkers because they consumed alcohol past the recommended limits provided by health agencies in the U.K. and the U.S.

In the United Kingdom, the recommended limit is 14 units per week and 21 units per week for the United States. One unit is standardized as 10ml, or 8g, of pure alcohol. Two units are roughly equal to a pint of lower-strength beer or a small glass of wine.

The other section of the participants, 28,125 of them, were classified as moderate drinkers for reporting a consumption less than the advised limits.

According to their findings, those who exceeded 14 units per week had an increased risk of dementia by 16 percent. People who exceeded the 21 unit limit faced 22 percent more risks.

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Afterward, 96,000 participants were additionally asked whether they have lost consciousness from drinking during the last 12 months - choosing from never, once, or several times. About one in ten participants reported having passed out after drinking. However, the researchers behind the study noted that the values might be an overestimate since a lot of people already consider sleeping immediately after drinking as "passing out."

Meanwhile, those who reported passing out leaned towards beers and spirits instead of wine.

Developing Dementia Later in Life

Furthermore, the participants were also stratified into four groups—whether they were heavy or moderate drinkers and whether they passed out or not. They were later diagnosed with dementia 14 years later, through a variety of electronic hospital and doctor records.

For people who reported losing consciousness once, they were exposed to risks of developing dementia by 2.1 times more, compared to those moderate drinkers who never passed out. However, people who had more instances of blacking out were faced with 2.2 more odds.

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Dr. Mika Kivimäki said: "A person's average consumption can be moderate even if he/she has sometimes episodes of heavy binge drinking." He added that had the definition of "passing out" been better established, people who just fell asleep after would've been excluded from the study.

Check out more news and information on Alcohol on Science Times.