UK- Binge drinkers are at increased risk of dementia

1 November 2008. Urgent action is needed to prevent Britain heading for a dementia epidemic caused by the nation's binge-drinking culture, experts have warned.

Research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry has linked excessive drinking and a loss of brain tissue. Researchers Dr Susham Gupta and Dr James Warner said people were drinking almost double what they were in the 1960s and claimed cheaper alcohol could be a cause.

The pair said that if trends continued, within 10 years the UK population would be drinking more alcohol than any other country in Europe.They wrote: "Given the neurotoxic effects of alcohol and the inexorable increase in per capita consumption, future generations may see a disproportionate increase in alcohol-related dementia."