In recent years there have been many studies suggesting that moderate alcohol consumption, generally considered two or fewer drinks per day, is good for the heart and good for the body in general.

Alcohol abuse, especially binge drinking, has also made new of late. In general, when we consider binge drinking, we think of young men and women of college age. A sort of right of passage. However an article published by the Telegraph (UK) titled, "Binge-drinking causes up to one in four dementia cases," brings some disturbing news. One in four cases of dementia due to alcohol? Actually, that shouldn't surprise us.

For the most part, drinking is accepted by society - even encouraged. It's deemed social and sophisticated. Certainly most people can drink responsibly and will suffer no harm.  However, a certain percentage of the adult population could be considered functioning alcoholics. These are "responsible" people who binge drink often. For many it's a daily even.  I would hazard a guess that most of these people would put up a fuss if they were called alcoholics, because they go to work and pay their bills. So, what's the problem?

The problem, according to this British study, is that these people may be playing with fire - or rather playing fast and loose with their brain cells. The article says, "Binge-drinking could be responsible for up to one in four of Britain's 700,000 dementia cases."

Some psychiatrists in Britain say that they are seeing people in their 40s who are experiencing serious memory problems due to heavy drinking. "The research, published in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, concluded that between 10 and 24 per cent of all cases of dementia could be caused by alcohol-related brain damage."

The researchers say that this study should serve as a wake-up call to people in their 40s. Dementia is not just a disease of the elderly. Cognitive problems can start much earlier, and as much as 25 percent of that is thought to be alcohol related.

There's a find line, when it comes to alcohol. When some studies show alcohol can be good for you, in moderation, but others show a link between heavy drinking and mental decline, people have to rely on their honesty with themselves, their families and their doctors about how much they actually drink.

What I've seen too often, especially with elders, is that denial is so strong that people truly think they are drinking a "healthy" amount of alcohol, while they are gradually increasing the size of their glass of wine, or the strength of their mixed drink, or even the number of drinks.

Maybe, before their spouse died, they were a social drinker. However, grief and loneliness gradually led to self-medicating with increased alcohol consumption. The effect of that extra glass of wine or that extra strong drink, begin to show.  Pretty soon the adult children begin to wonder about Dad and his slurred speech. Older bodies aren't as efficient as younger ones, and maybe Dad isn't eating as well since Mom died. The damage to the body mounts. Soon, Dad's forgetfulness gets serious.