In addition to its physical effects on the chronic drinker’s body, alcohol is associated with a variety of mental impairments. Alcoholic dementia and Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome are among the most prominent concerns in the matter. The former is a blanket term for a variety of cognitive deficiencies caused by the substance. The latter is a two-stage condition that results from a B1 vitamin deficiency and can progress into apathy and chronic amnesia if left untreated (Levinthal, 2014). This answer will discuss the diagnosis and treatment of the two illnesses and the differences in their degrees of danger.
Alcoholic dementia expresses similar symptoms as many other mental impairments and can be challenging to identify at first. Fillit, Rockwood, and Young (2017) suggest an instrument that can be used as a screening tool in the case of suspected substance abuse. Most treatments for the condition involve behavioral and cognitive therapy that focuses on abstinence and the elimination of the causes behind the consumption of the substance. If necessary, sedatives may be administered to calm down the patient, particularly in case of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome’s emergence. In the long term, the effects of alcoholic dementia on the body are mostly reversible.
As is mentioned above, malnutrition is the primary cause of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. According to Balan, Murrell, and Lentz (2018), treatment should begin with a complete medical evaluation as soon as there is suspicion of the condition. Generally, the illness can be halted through the consumption of a balanced diet and an increased vitamin B1 intake. However, while the effects of the Wernicke encephalopathy, the first stage, are reversible, the damage caused by the Korsakoff syndrome that follows is not. As such, the second condition is substantially more harmful than the first unless noticed and prevented early.
References
Balan, Y., Murrell, K., & Lentz, C. (2018). Big book of emergency department psychiatry: A guide to patient centered operational improvement. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Fillit, H. M., Rockwood, K., & Young, J. (eds.). (2017). Brocklehurst’s textbook of geriatric medicine and gerontology (8th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier.
Levinthal, C. F. (2014). Drugs, behavior and modern society (8th ed.). London, United Kingdom: Pearson Education.