Yes, I firmly believe they get brain damage from decades of hard drinking. I've seen it myself. Whether it's alcohol dementia or Wernecke's Syndrome or whatever you want to call it, it all amounts to basically the same thing.
I also guess that my XABF was an SOB before drinking, is now that he's a drunk, and would be if he went on the wagon for the rest of his life. I just think he's a wretched human being - period. And sometimes I think he drinks because he KNOWS what an SOB he is and is either trying to anesthetize it, or booze it to death.