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How the risks of drinking increase in older age

- MOHANA RAVINDRANATH

Drinking is harmful to your health at any age. But as you get older, the risks become greater — even with the same amount of drinks.

Alcohol affects “virtually every organ system in the body”, including the muscles and blood vessels, digestive system, heart and brain, said Sara Jo Nixon, the director of the Center for Addiction Research & Education at the University of Florida in the US. “It particularly impacts older adults, because there’s already some decline or impact in those areas.”

"There's a whole different set" of health risk factors for older drinkers, said Paul Sacco, a professor of social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, who studies substance use and ageing. People might not realise that the drinks they used to tolerate well are now affecting their brains and bodies differently, he said.

Alcohol can present new problems in older age — particularly at 65 and older — for even light or occasional drinkers. Older adults tend to have less muscle mass and retain less water in their tissues compared with younger people, which can increase blood alcohol concentration, said Aaron White, a senior adviser at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This means it takes fewer drinks for older people to feel intoxicated, and heightens the risk of severe injury from falls.