• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
Sunday, February 5, 2023
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Health

Poll finds risky drinking patterns in older adults during pandemic

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
June 9, 2021
in Health
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Those who drink to boost their mood, to relieve stress, boredom or pain may be more at risk in pandemic – but “social drinkers” should watch intake too

IMAGE

Credit: University of Michigan

As many older adults get back to normal life across the United States thanks to high rates of vaccination and lower COVID-19 activity, a new poll suggests many should watch their alcohol intake.

In all, 23% of adults over 50 who drink alcohol reported that they routinely had three or more drinks in one sitting, according to new findings from the National Poll on Healthy Aging. And 10% of adults who drink use other drugs while drinking, including marijuana or prescription medications that can interact with alcohol in risky ways.

The poll asked adults age 50 to 80 to reflect on their drinking habits shortly before the pandemic and during its first ten months. Routinely having three or more alcoholic drinks on any day they drink, and occasional binge drinking, are both considered signs of problematic drinking in any adult.

While overall only 14% of older adults who drink alcohol said their drinking increased during the first ten months of the pandemic, that percentage was much higher among the minority of older adults who said they drink as part of their routine, to boost their mood or to relax, or to cope with boredom, stress or pain. A third to half of such adults reported drinking more in the past year. Those who reported feeling isolated or lonely were also more likely to say they’d increased alcohol intake.

Among older adults who drink, 10% said there was a time when they thought they were drinking too much during the pandemic, though few of them had sought help.

Meanwhile, half of older adults say they mainly drink for social reasons. Members of this group were more likely to say they decreased their drinking in 2020. This suggests that as social interactions increase during the new phase of the pandemic, their alcohol consumption may rise.

The poll is based at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation and receives support from AARP and Michigan Medicine, U-M’s academic medical center. It draws from the answers of a national sample of more than 2,000 adults aged 50 to 80 to a poll in late January, when COVID-19 case rates were high across the nation and vaccination of older adults had just begun. One-third of the respondents said they did not drink alcohol in the past year.

“Even before the pandemic, heavier and more risky drinking habits were increasing in older adults at a faster rate than among younger adults,” said Anne Fernandez, Ph.D., a psychologist in the U-M Department of Psychiatry who specializes in studying alcohol use and who worked with the poll team on the report.

“While not every older adult who drank more during the past year may have gone from non-risky to risky drinking, but the overall level of drinking, and the potential for interaction with other substances, is very concerning,” she said. “As we all toast the end of the worst part of the pandemic in our country, it’s important to address or prevent problematic drinking of all kinds.”

Aging-related alcohol concerns

The body’s ability to process alcohol changes with age, said poll director Preeti Malani, M.D., a Michigan Medicine infectious disease physician also trained in geriatrics.

Older adults may find that the same amount of alcohol that they consumed with a meal or at a social occasion in the past will affect them differently now. That could include balance issues that could lead to falls and other injuries. Long-term drinking habits can accelerate the immune system decline that typically comes with age, and are associated with more memory loss.

“We get especially concerned when older adults are drinking multiple drinks at a sitting, so the 20% of older men who said they drink three to four alcoholic drinks on a typical day of drinking is concerning,” she says. “And 27% of those who drink said that at least once in the past year, they had had six or more drinks – which is a ‘binge’ level of alcohol consumption that is risky at any age, but more so as we age.”

Combining alcohol with substances that act on the central nervous system can pose special risks. Many older adults may not realize that they should not drink alcohol, or strictly limit their intake, if they are taking opioid pain medications, sleeping aids, sedatives, tranquilizers and medications for depression or other mental health concerns. As cannabis use for medical and recreational reasons rises in older adults, Fernandez says special attention is needed to this kind of interaction.

People with heart issues, diabetes, liver disease or other chronic illness should also reduce alcohol use because of the impact on their bodies.

Help for cutting back on drinking

Research has proven that there are effective ways for older adults – and adults of any age – to cut back on their drinking, or stop drinking altogether.

Counseling from professional therapists, peer support and recovery groups, and medication are all available treatments for alcohol use disorder or alcohol addiction, and for those who don’t meet the criteria for that condition but want to cut back. Older adults can get referrals to such services, and potentially access coverage from their insurance, by talking to their regular health care provider.

In all, 27% of the older adults polled said they had been concerned about their own alcohol use at some time in their life – but only one in five of these who had been concerned had ever sought professional help for their drinking.

“Heavier drinking among older adults has been on the rise for several decades. Because unhealthy alcohol behaviors become more problematic as we age, it’s important to seek treatment if you are worried about your alcohol consumption,” said Alison Bryant, Ph.D., senior vice president of research for AARP.

###

For more about safe drinking and the effects of alcohol on health, see the National Institutes of Health’s Rethinking Drinking site. To find help for alcohol use issues for yourself or others, including online counseling, visit the Alcohol Treatment Navigator.

The National Poll on Healthy Aging results are based on responses from a nationally representative sample of 2,074 adults aged 50 to 80 who answered a wide range of questions online in January 2021. Questions were written, and data interpreted and compiled, by the IHPI team. Laptops and Internet access were provided to poll respondents who did not already have them. A full report of the findings and methodology is available at http://www.healthyagingpoll.org, along with past National Poll on Healthy Aging reports.

Media Contact
Kara Gavin
[email protected]

Tags: AddictionAgingAlcoholDemographyGerontologyHealth Care Systems/ServicesMedicine/HealthPublic HealthSocial/Behavioral Science
Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

road

Black South Africans report higher life satisfaction and are at less risk for depression post-migration, MU study finds

February 3, 2023
Lifetime Uncertainty and Level of Violence Global Map

Living in a violent setting can result in a shorter, but also a more unpredictable lifespan, according to new research from NYU Abu Dhabi social scientists

February 3, 2023

Harnessing an innate protection against Ebola

February 3, 2023

Signal transmission in the immune and nervous system through NEMO

February 3, 2023
Please login to join discussion

POPULAR NEWS

  • Jean du Terrail, Senior Machine Learning Scientist at Owkin

    Nature Medicine publishes breakthrough Owkin research on the first ever use of federated learning to train deep learning models on multiple hospitals’ histopathology data

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16
  • First made-in-Singapore antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approved to enter clinical trials

    58 shares
    Share 23 Tweet 15
  • Metal-free batteries raise hope for more sustainable and economical grids

    41 shares
    Share 16 Tweet 10
  • One-pot reaction creates versatile building block for bioactive molecules

    37 shares
    Share 15 Tweet 9

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Health Equity Report Card pilot project to help close the care gap highlighted on World Cancer Day

Tech that turns household surfaces into touch sensors is a touch closer to application

Preference for naturally talented over hard workers emerges in childhood, HKUST researchers find

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 42 other subscribers
  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In