Expert: Paula Damgaard - 1/24/2008

Question
My mother had early onset AD and she was a heavy drinker starting in her teens.  When she passed away in her middle 60's I wanted my father to have an autopsy done but he chose not to.  Have you heard of any studies done on the effect of Alcoholism and AD?  She also started smoking at an early age.  I read in an earlier post where it said that early onset AD patients decline faster.  My mother had AD symptoms in her early 50's. The fascinating thing is when she was in full blown AD she forgot to drink and smoke. Thanks, Gayle

Answer
Hi Gayle, sorry about your mom, she sounds a lot like mine!  My mother died at 69 and she too had been a drinker and a smoker.  The funny thing was that when she gave up smoking, she did it by giving my then 16 year old daughter the cigarettes and telling her she was quiting smoking and that she could sell the cigarettes to her friends, but not on school property!!  You gotta love the demented mind! And she also stopped drinking.  When she died we did get an autopsy and there was no mention of alcohol damage.  

There is a form of dementia related to alcohol, tho those patients are the hardcore die as drunks that it is found in.  

I am sorry your dad didn't let you get the autopsy.  It would have answered many questions and given you information you will need later on.  I am not in my office this week so can't really give you exact articles to read about the alcohol/dementia syndrome, but if you want to look into it just google alcohol and dementia and you will probably get more than you wanted.  If not when I am back I can check into some articles for you.  Paula