AA: Aged Alcoholism

More than 10,000 baby boomers a day are turning 65 years old. Although alcohol problems are often underreported, alcohol use remains common among older persons. As the older population grows, increasing numbers of older alcoholics will require health care.  In a study of community-dwelling persons 60 to 94 years of age, 62 percent of the subjects were found to drink alcohol, and heavy drinking was reported in 13 percent of men and 2 percent of women.

Older adults who have alcohol dependence problems drink significantly more than younger adults who have similar problems. The findings suggest that older problem drinkers may have developed a tolerance for alcohol and need to drink even more than younger abusers to achieve the effects they seek. When considering this, an important factor that comes into play is the fact that alcohol's effects vary with age.  As the body ages, how it interacts with and reacts to alcohol also changes. Slower reaction times, problems with hearing and seeing, and a lower tolerance to alcohol's effects put older people at higher risk for falls, car crashes, and other types of injuries that may result from drinking. According to the National Institutes of Health, alcohol is a factor in 60 percent of fatal burn injuries, drownings and homicides and in 40 percent of fatal motor vehicle crashes, suicides and fatal falls.

Aged people also tend to take more medications than younger people. Mixing alcohol with over-the-counter or prescription medications can be very dangerous, even fatal. At the same time, alcohol may worsen the effectiveness of medications and even worsen symptoms.


References:

Lawrence Schonfeld, Larry W. Dupree, “Antecedents of Drinking for Early- and Late-Onset Elderly Alcohol Abusers”, Volume 52, 1991 > Issue 6: November 1991

http://www.jsad.com/jsad/article/Antecedents_of_Drinking_for_Early_and_LateOnset_Elderly_Alcohol_Abusers_/1757.html

Larry W. Dupree, “Aging and Alcohol Use Disorders: Diagnostic Issues in the Elderly”, Table of Contents - 1990 - Volume 2, Issue 01  

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=271886

A Gurnack and Jeanne L. Thomas, Behavioral Factors Related to Elderly Alcohol Abuse: Research and Policy Issues, 1989, Vol. 24, No. 7 , Pages 641-654
http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/10826088909047304

SALLY K. RIGLER, “Alcoholism in the Elderly”, Am Fam Physician. 2000 Mar 15;61(6):1710-1716

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2000/0315/p1710.html