Symptoms of alcoholic dementia

In China, wine culture is very important. By then, alcohol in China was not only a culture, but also a tool for killing people without bloodshed. Many people died at the drinking table because of socializing. Some people suffer from many diseases due to alcohol, but their addiction to alcohol remains unabated. This requires that the families of people who love drinking have some understanding of the diseases caused by alcohol so that they will not be at a loss when problems arise with their family members.

Alcoholic dementia is a common disease among modern people, especially some successful business people, but most people are not graduates of medical majors, so there are not many people in a family who know this knowledge. Let’s talk about the relevant knowledge below.

1. Most patients with alcoholic dementia have an insidious onset and a chronic course. Initial symptoms include fatigue, indifference to things, flat emotions, anxiety, irritability, dirty clothes, etc. Vomiting and nystagmus may occur early. Gradually, patients may suffer from inattention, insomnia, irritability or drowsiness, and paralysis of the extraocular muscles leading to strabismus. Later, cerebellar ataxia gradually appears, such as unstable gait or unstable holding of objects. In severe cases, mental confusion or coma may occur.

2. Those with acute onset often develop the disease suddenly due to mental stimulation. There may be significant disturbances in spatial and temporal orientation, abnormal emotions and behaviors, and even psychiatric symptoms such as hallucinations, fiction, and delusions.

3. After about a year, cognitive impairment, orientation and memory disorders gradually appear, followed by a decline in learning, abstract thinking, visual space, visual motor coordination and spatial perception, lack of rationality and self-awareness, and no language and reading disorders. As alcohol intoxication worsens, serious cognitive dysfunctions may occur, such as memory loss, not recognizing relatives, or getting lost.

4. In the later stages, patients gradually lose their ability to live their own lives and may experience obvious personality decline. Their need for drinking becomes more important than anything else. They become self-centered, selfish, and have no sense of responsibility. Moral standards have declined and people will do anything to get alcohol. The disease lasts for several years and may be combined with Korsakoff syndrome, Wetnicke encephalopathy, chronic alcoholic peripheral neuropathy, etc. In the late stage, language function is impaired and only fragments can be spoken. Finally, the patient is bedridden, suffers urinary incontinence, and often dies from serious complications.

From the above introduction, we can understand that there are many symptoms of alcoholic dementia, usually becoming irritable and sloppy, or having memory problems, etc. Knowing this, family members can make targeted judgments about their family members' symptoms. If the symptoms are serious, they must go to the hospital for professional treatment.