I’m sorry to hear about your loss. It’s been five years since my own.
But “drinking has a direct causal link to dementia” doesn’t mean there’s a 1:1 or inevitable relationship: it’s probabalistic. Some people have survived high radiation doses with no apparent ill effects — still not recommended for the casual experimenter
BTW, I’ve done the VFR flying as well but never in an AC Cobra!
I think the Cobra is faster than the 172! But I’ve never tried to find out!!!