Why drinking alcohol poses greater health risks at 65 years, above

Experts have warned 65-year-olds and above to avoid a high use of alcohol.

CNN reported that the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism said a rise in drinking for people at 65 and above is a big problem given the greater health impacts that come with alcohol for older adults.

Director George F Koob noted that the percentage of older adults who drink every month is increasing.

This, he added, is particular with women, stating that older adults who do drink do so more frequently than people younger than 65 years old.

"The Baby Boomer cohort (born from 1946 to 1964) is changing the landscape of alcohol use among older people in the US in two keyways," an email by Koob reads.

"First, they have always tended to drink more, as well as use other drugs more, than the cohort before them, so the percentage of older people who drink is going up."

Koob pointed out that the second way is from sheer numbers.

He said the baby boomer generation is large and so the number of people who binge drink, develop alcohol use disorder, and die from alcohol is on the rise.

"The rapid growth in the number of drinkers over age 65 could place an increasing burden on our healthcare system," the director noted.

He further pointed out that conversations around alcohol have been changing as more people move toward alcohol alternatives for a healthy lifestyle.

That culture however has been led largely by younger people.

"Given alcohol's historical role in the fabric of everyday life … The aged population may be less aware of the harms," he said.

According to Koob, the first thing the baby boomers should know is that a person is not going to react to alcohol the same way in their older years (70s) as they did in the past (30s).

"The body changes as we age and these changes render us more susceptible to some of the harms that stem from alcohol use," he said.

According to the director of education in the division of geriatric psychiatry at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts Dr Stephanie Collier, the enzyme that metabolises alcohol decreases with age.

Koob also notes that a person's body water reduces with age and that contributes to a higher blood alcohol concentration.

This means that the same dose of alcohol at a younger age has a much greater impact years later.

He reiterated that the changes in how alcohol affects the body have serious consequences for healthy ageing.

The impacts of alcohol on things such as driving performance, reaction time, memory and balance are bigger in older adults than younger drinkers.

Additionally, Koob said, balance becomes a problem considering that the leading cause of injuries among adults aged 65 and older — and according to studies- falls while intoxicated tend to be more severe.

On Collier's part, combining alcohol and medication is also risky, and almost 90 per cent of older adults are taking at least one medication regularly.

"One study found that older adults are more likely to experience depressed breathing than young adults following a combination of alcohol and opioids," Koob said.

"This is concerning given that opioid overdoses lead to death primarily by depressing breathing."

He added that alcohol can also weaken the body's ability to fight infections, which is even more concerning after the COVID-19 pandemic had such a big impact on the older population.

Collier told CNN that she recommends her patients not drink at all or switch to nonalcoholic beer if it is part of their routine.

For those who cannot manage that, she recommends trying to take a one- or two-week pause from drinking and seeing how one feels.

"If you decrease your alcohol intake and feel better, your body is telling you something," Koob said in an email.

He warned that it can be harder to spot alcohol use disorder or problem drinking in older adults who may be retired, living alone or socialising less because the signs are less overt.

Koob added that there are screening tools available to help decipher whether one's drinking is a problem.

This includes the Short Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test–Geriatric Version (SMAST-G).

At the same time, he said clinicians should also be asking their patients about drinking behaviour regularly.

"We believe that people at any age could benefit from stepping back and taking a look at their current relationship with alcohol," Koob said.

"We also think that cultivating alternatives to alcohol use for relaxation, socializing, and dealing with stress can result in less alcohol use and better health."