Study: More Baby Boomers Binge Drinking
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A new study finds that more baby boomers are binge drinking.
Science Daily reports that Dr. Benjamin Han, a geriatrician and health services researcher at the Center for Drug Use and HIV Research and in the Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care at NYU Langone Medical Center, and his team of researchers examined the trends of self-reported binge alcohol use over the past month and alcohol use disorder among adults 50 years of age and older.
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The study reveals that a significant number of baby boomers went on benders as there was increases in past-year and past-month alcohol use, past-month binge drinking and alcohol use disorders.
"Older adults have particular vulnerabilities to alcohol due to physiological changes during aging, including increasing chronic disease burden and medication use," Han told Science Daily. "However, no recent studies have estimated trends in alcohol use, including binge alcohol use and alcohol use disorders among older adults."
The results also showed that while men were more likely to binge drink and suffer from alcohol use disorders than women, binge drinking and alcohol use disorders increased among women.
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"As females age, they tend to experience a larger impact of physiological changes in lean body mass compared to men," Han told Science Daily. "Thus, they may experience the adverse effects associated with consuming alcohol in lower amounts."
Those baby boomers who reported binge drinking also said their health is "fair/poor" and suffer from multiple chronic conditions.
"Health care providers need to be made aware of this increasing trend of unhealthy alcohol use, particularly among older females, and ensure that screening for unhealthy alcohol use is part of regular medical care for this population," Han told Sciene Daily.
The study was published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence.