Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (cont.)
Does alcohol affect older people
differently?
Alcohol's effects do vary with age. Slower reaction times, problems with
hearing and seeing, and a lower tolerance to alcohol's effects put older people
at higher risk for falls, car crashes, and other types of injuries that may
result from drinking.
Older people also tend to take more medicines than younger people. Mixing
alcohol with over-the-counter or prescription medications can be very dangerous,
even fatal. In addition, alcohol can make many of the
medical conditions common in older people, including high blood pressure and
ulcers, more serious. Physical changes associated with aging can make older
people feel "high" even after drinking only small amounts of alcohol. So even if
there is no medical reason to avoid alcohol, older men and women should limit
themselves to one drink per day.
Does alcohol affect women
differently?
Yes, alcohol affects women differently than men. Women become more impaired
than men do after drinking the same amount of alcohol, even when differences in
body weight are taken into account. This is because women's bodies have less
water than men's bodies. Because alcohol mixes with body water, a given amount
of alcohol becomes more highly concentrated in a woman's body than in a man's.
In other words, it would be like dropping the same amount of alcohol into a much
smaller pail of water. That is why the recommended drinking limit for women is
lower than for men.
In addition, chronic alcohol abuse takes a heavier physical toll on women
than on men. Alcohol dependence and related medical problems, such as brain,
heart, and liver damage, progress more rapidly in women than in men.
Is alcohol good for your heart?
Studies have shown that moderate drinkers are less likely to die from one
form of heart disease than are people who do not drink any alcohol or who drink
more.
If you are a nondrinker, however, you should not start drinking solely to
benefit your heart. You can guard against heart disease by exercising and eating
foods that are low in fat. And if you are pregnant, planning to become pregnant,
have been diagnosed as alcoholic, or have another medical condition that could
make alcohol use harmful, you should not drink.
If you can safely drink alcohol and you choose to drink, do so in moderation.
Heavy drinking can actually increase the risk of heart failure, stroke, and high
blood pressure, as well as cause many other medical problems, such as liver
cirrhosis.
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