The early baby boomers may be known as the generation of sex, drugs and rock and roll. But it turns out, they’re hitting the bottle pretty hard as they age, as well. And that portends significant alcohol-related health problems ahead as those mid-lifers become seniors.
A new study finds that among men and women 50 to 64 years old, almost 1 in 4 men and 1 in 10 women is a “binge” drinker — meaning that at some point in the last 30 days, he or she has downed four (for women) or five (for men) servings of alcohol in a single two-hour sitting. Such alcohol abuse — roughly defined as the amount needed to attain a blood-alcohol level of .08 (the level at which most states consider a driver intoxicated) — frequently escapes the notice of physicians, even though it presents an escalating health risk as the drinker ages.
The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, found that binge drinkers are more likely to use tobacco or illicit drugs than those who do not drink. (It also found that among women, binge drinking was more common among the employed and those using prescription drugs for nonmedical purposes; among men, it was more common among the unmarried and those with higher incomes.)
Binge drinking among this still highly mobile group is associated with an increased risk of traffic accidents and other alcohol-related injuries.