Is this Dementia or Alcohol Intoxication or Both?

I am presenting the case of an independent lady whose active alcohol abuse masked her new onset dementia. Ms. G is a 76 year old female who lives alone in a continuum of care retirement community. She has difficult-to-control hypertension, hypothyroidism, B12 deficiency, anxiety, and adjustment disorder which started after her husband, who was an alcoholic, committed suicide. She struggled with alcohol abuse herself through the years. She takes citalopram, amlodipine, B12 injections, and vitamin D supplements. She has lived in this community for 4 years. She has made new friends and currently has a new boyfriend, with whom she likes to vacation with at a beach house during the summer. Earlier this year, she had an emergency department visit because she was “funny in her head.” Her daughter was very concerned about new onset speech abnormalities. Physical exam was remarkable for dysarthria without any other focal neurological deficit. Initial evaluation was done to rule out a stroke, including a head CT which showed no acute pathology. At that time, she admitted to using “too much alcohol.” Blood alcohol level was 190 mg/dL at 6:30 AM. Since then, she has been to her PCP multiple times for worsening memory. In three consecutive visits during a 1-month period, she was noted to have dysarthria and word finding difficulties, as well as impaired memory and orientation. Her clock drawing was impaired. She had difficulty placing the hands of the clock at 10 past 11, drawin...
Source: Journal of the American Medical Directors Association - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Poster Abstracts Source Type: research