A growing number of people in Ireland are at risk of developing a brain injury due to alcohol abuse, a charity has warned.
There has been an increase in people dependent on alcohol in Ireland, with up to 75,000 people at risk of developing Alcohol Related Brain Injury (ARBI).
Ahead of Ireland's first ever national conference on Alcohol Related Brain Injuries in Ireland, Alcohol Forum Ireland CEO Paula Leonard said global estimates suggest one-in-eight people with an alcohol use disorder may develop ARBI.
ARBI occurs as a result of the toxic effects of alcohol on brain cells, nutrition and vitamin deficiencies, and disturbances to the blood supply to the brain.
Thiamine
On Newstalk Breakfast, retired University of Liverpool Professor of Psychiatry Dr Ken Wilson explained how regular and excessive alcohol consumption damages the brain.
"With alcohol, if you drink enough of it long enough, it washes the vitamins out of your body, particularly thiamine and your brain needs thiamine in order to change sugars into energy," he said.
He said some people might not realise that their brain has been impacted because alcohol abuse effects their memory and reasoning.
"You start declining over a number of years until your memory is wiped out, you can’t learn new information, you’ve got a memory problem," Dr Wilson said.
Awareness
Dr Wilson said it is important for people to recognise what an alcohol-related brain injury looks like, as the symptoms can be easy to miss.
"People don't pick up on it," he said. "
They don’t check the memory and then they just say [the patient is] just drinking and not eating enough."
Outlook
Alcohol Forum Ireland describe ARBI patients as "one of the most vulnerable groups in society" as they are at high risk of homelessness, hospitalisation and "placement in inappropriate setting such as nursing homes at a young age".
"As many as 70% of people with severe ARBI will end up resident in a Nursing Home environment due to the lack specialised rehabilitative and assisted living services," Ms Leonard said.
Today's conference aims to "find service gaps" in ARBI treatment and services.
