Korsakoff's Syndrome & Alcohol Induced Dementia

[wills1]

Hi everyone,

I'm afraid I'm really new to this, so I really am sorry if this post is in the wrong place

Over the years I've been close to several people with serious alcohol problems and I've encountered Alcohol Related Brain Damage/dementia...but this was generally amongst people who had been very heavy drinkers, often for decades. Recently I heard of a friend of a friend being diagnosed with a form of Korsakoff's Syndrome, in her late twenties...I thought this was really tragic and unusual, but then online I did hear some accounts of people who were younger...but then the statistics and research surrounding this all seem quite vague and dated, too...I just wondered if this was an 'out of the blue'/rare experience, or whether others here had heard about similar things?

For some reason this thing has really touched me and I'm really keen to know more about this…it just seems incredibly cruel…whenever I thought about alcoholism I envisaged things like liver problems, not this disease/syndrome…

Thanks so much for reading this, sorry if it isn’t clear at all

Will

 

[MrsP]

I'm not a doctor but have a lot of experience working with alcohol related Korsakoff's. I know that in some people (particularly people with eating disorders) it can develop but may be reversible in the very early stages, or there can be improvement over time with rehabilitation.

Hope this helps a little.

Kate x.

 

[lin1]

Hello wills
Welcome to TP. Im sorry its taken so long for any one to reply to you ,
I have no experience with alcohol related dementia other than after time off the drink it often improves

I think any serious illness that affects young people/children affects me more than if its an older person with the same illness

 

[BeckyJan]

Hello:
I have no experience of this at all. I found this factsheet which does mention that women tend to suffer at an earlier age and also those malnourished or Vit B deficiency.

http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=98

This made me wonder if those with an eating disorder could be more at risk.

As you have said it is extremely cruel and I am sorry you are seeing this in your friends.