Maybe you like your martinis shaken, not stirred, or perhaps you prefer drowning your sorrows in a bottle of Merlot… whatever your poison, alcohol can impact your brain far beyond the occasional pesky hangover.

Ever heard of the phrase, ‘alcohol-induced dementia?’ In the hard-knocking world of booze, it is whispered in somber tones. Recently, the phrase hit the headlines, landing directly in housewives’ living rooms with the shattering news of Wendy Williams' diagnosis.

So, what on Earth is ‘alcohol-induced dementia’?

When the liver’s taps run dry from filtering too much alcohol, toxins appear on your brain's doorstep like unwelcome party crashers. As one might expect, they wreak havoc. They ignite a mosh pit in your cerebellum (the part that manages motor function) causing stumbling, twitching and cognitive kerfuffles. At worst, memory processing takes a significant hit with short-term memory loss.

Georges Naasan, MD, sounds a warning bell about the link between alcohol and cognitive decline, although he suggests going easy on the 'alcohol-induced dementia' moniker. In general, it's more about the specific type of cognitive degradation. For instance, dementia related to thiamine deficiency or cerebellar degeneration due to alcohol use is common. Wernicke-Korsakoff dementia stands proud, the poster child of alcohol-related dementia, manifesting cognitive decline, short-term memory loss, and even hallucinations or delusions.

The intensity and duration of alcohol consumption play a significant role in potential cognitive decline. The more you drink and the longer you maintain this opportunity for the Grim Reaper, the higher your risk of developing dementia becomes.

And, just when you thought late-night whiskey sessions were the problem, Naasan flips the script. He suggests late-onset alocholism can be a symptom of brain conditions like frontotemporal dementia.

Remember folks, safe drinking isn't a sprint, but a marathon. One small drink every 24 hours is touted as a safe-zone, but remember, controlling the size of your drinks is vital too. And no, you don't get a five-drink free pass for five teetotaling days.

In the end, though we relish alcohol’s camaraderie in socializing, finding solace in it like the irrational allure of moth to flame will only help usher in our cognitive decline, hand-in-hand. Highly poetic, but not a poetry we advise acting upon.