Alcohol abused older adults don't live long

Researchers found that men and women in their mid-50s to mid-60s who engaged in binge drinking had an increased risk of dying over a 20-year period compared with regular, moderate drinkers, Fox News reports.

The study author Charles Holahan, a professor of psychology at The University of Texas at Austin and his colleagues tracked the drinking behavior of 443 older people ages 55 to 65 at the study's start. Participants were all considered moderate drinkers, meaning their average daily alcohol consumption was at least one-half a drink a day during the past month.

The researchers then compared the death rate in older adults who reported they were binge drinkers to that of regular moderate drinkers during a 20-year follow-up period. They also took into account factors such as marital status, smoking, income, depression symptoms and medical conditions, which could all influence the results.

The research found that among older people who binge drank were more than twice as likely to die over the next 20 years compared with men and women who consumed alcohol in a regular, moderate pattern.

Put simply, binge drinkers didn't live as long. By the end of the 20-year period, 61 percent of the binge drinkers and 37 percent of regular moderate drinkers had died.

"Binge drinking is bad at any age," Holahan said.

The findings show it's not just the number of drinks that matters; the pattern of drinking also has health consequences as a person gets older, the researchers said.

Drinking too much in one sitting is linked with a host of health problems, from car crashes and falls to domestic violence and risky sexual behavior.

But binge drinking may be particularly risky for older adults because they are more likely to have age-related illnesses, and they also take more medications that could cause side effects when combined with alcohol, Holahan said.

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