Risk of dementia rises with heavy drinking, say doctors

Brain damage caused by drinking alcohol is set to rise in future generations, according to medical experts.

Scots are drinking 25 per cent more alcohol than people south of the Border and the difference in consumption is widening, according to a new study They claim that heavy drinking could be responsible for as many as one in four cases of dementia.

Women are at much greater risk than men of suffering mental problems because they are physiologically less able to cope with the effects of alcohol. They have more body water and less body fat, which means that they metabolise alcohol differently On average, adults in Scotland consumed the equivalent of 540 pints of beer, 130 bottles of wine or 46 bottles of vodka in 2009.

The average consumption per person in England and Wales is almost 35% less according to the Scottish Executive-commissioned report.

For the first time sales of alcohol per head from supermarkets and shops were more than double those of pubs, clubs and restaurants.

Nicola Sturgeon, the Scottish health minister, said the figures were further evidence of the need to introduce better controls over the sale of alcohol.