Patients are asked several routine questions during annual wellness exams. Among those queries are a subsection of questions regarding alcohol consumption. Doctors ask these questions to identify how much alcohol their patients consume and how often they drink. It’s important that patients of all ages answer such questions honestly, and that includes men and women over 50.
Binge drinking may not be a behavior people associate with individuals over 50, but this behavior is on the rise among aging men and women. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) defines binge drinking as a pattern of alcohol consumption that elevates an individual’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% or higher.
The NIAAA notes that such levels correspond to consuming five or more drinks (male) or four or more drinks (female) in a roughly two-hour period. Data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicates that one in five adults between the ages of 60 and 64 and 12% of individuals age 65 and over report current binge drinking.
Binge drinking trends among individuals 60 and over alarm public health officials. The NIAAA notes that older adults are vulnerable to various problems when drinking alcohol, which can lead to bad interactions among people taking medications and increase risk for various health ailments.
Such a reality makes it worth aging adults’ time to learn some of the basics of alcohol consumption after 50.
Alcohol Can Exacerbate Various Medical Conditions
Age is a notable risk factor for various medical conditions. For example, the National Institute on Aging notes that changes in the heart and blood vessels that occur naturally with age may increase a person’s risk of heart disease and related health problems.
The NIAAA notes that adding alcohol to the mix as you age can worsen problems such as high blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Additional conditions that can be
exacerbated by heavy drinking include diabetes, liver problems, osteoporosis, and mood disorders.
Alcohol Can Interact with Various Medications
Prescription medications come with a lengthy rundown of warnings and instructions, which is enough to compel many people to avoid alcohol when taking such medicines.
However, people may not be as careful with over-the-counter medications, even though the NIAAA warns that mixing alcohol with OTC medicines can be dangerous and even deadly. OTC medications such as aspirin, acetaminophen, allergy medicines, and sleeping pills can interact badly with alcohol.
Alcohol Consumption Should be Limited to Two Drinks Or Less
As noted, a significant percentage of adults over 60 qualify as binge drinkers. That may alarm some older adults who do not feel as though they have a problem with alcohol but still meet the qualifications for binge drinking.
Refraining from alcohol is arguably the safest option, but individuals over 50 who still like to enjoy a drink every now and then are urged to keep their consumption to two drinks or less in a day for men and one drink or less in a day for women. It’s important that individuals recognize they cannot save up drinking for one night of the week. So those who abstain six days a week cannot then consume between seven and 14 drinks on the day they drink. Such an approach is unhealthy, unsafe and potentially deadly.
Adults over 50 are urged to learn about the ways alcohol affects aging bodies. More information is available at niaaa.nih.gov.
