People over age 60 who drink alcohol regularly are at an increased risk of early death, particularly from cancer or issues related to the heart and blood vessels.
I'm late 70's now and expect to live to my 90's or perhaps even longer - what a waste that alcohol kills so many and so young, in potentially older age/life - vaccines aside, that is.
Regularly Drinking Alcohol After 60 Linked to Early Death
Lisa O'Mary
August 15, 2024
Aug. 14, 2024 – People over age 60 who drink alcohol regularly are at an increased risk of early death, particularly from cancer or issues related to the heart and blood vessels.
That's according to the findings of a new, large study that was published this week by JAMA Network Open and build upon numerous other recent studies concluding that any amount of alcohol consumption is linked to significant health risks. That's a change from decades of public health messaging suggesting that moderate alcohol intake (one or two drinks per day) wasn't dangerous. Recently, experts have uncovered flaws in how researchers came to those earlier conclusions.
In this latest study, researchers in Spain analyzed health data for more than 135,000 people, all of whom were at least 60 years old, lived in the United Kingdom, and provided their health information to the UK Biobank database. The average age of people at the start of the analysis period was 64.
The researchers compared 12 years of health outcomes for occasional drinkers to those who averaged drinking at least some alcohol on a daily basis. The greatest health risks were seen between occasional drinkers and those whom the researchers labeled "high risk." Occasional drinkers had less than about two drinks per week. The high-risk group included men who averaged nearly three drinks per day or more, and women who averaged about a drink and a half per day or more. The analysis showed that compared to occasional drinking, high-risk drinking was linked to:
A 33% increased risk of early death
A 39% increased risk of dying from cancer
A 21% increased risk of dying from problems with the heart and blood vessels
More moderate drinking habits were also linked to an increased risk of early death and dying from cancer, and even just averaging about one drink or less daily was associated with an 11% higher risk of dying from cancer. Low and moderate drinkers were most at-risk if they also had health problems or experienced socioeconomic factors like living in less affluent neighborhoods.
The findings also suggested the potential that mostly drinking wine, or drinking mostly with meals, may be lower-risk, but the researchers called for further study on those topics since "it may mostly reflect the effect of healthier lifestyles, slower alcohol absorption, or nonalcoholic components of beverages."
A recent Gallup poll showed that overall, Americans' attitudes toward the health impacts of alcohol are changing, with 65% of young adults (ages 18 to 34) saying that drinking can have negative health effects. But just 39% of adults age 55 or older agreed that drinking is bad for a person's health. The gap in perspectives between younger and older adults about drinking is the largest on record, Gallup reported.
SOURCES:
JAMA Network Open: "Alcohol Consumption Patterns and Mortality Among Older Adults With Health-Related or Socioeconomic Risk Factors."
Gallup: "Alcohol Consumption Increasingly Viewed as Unhealthy in U.S."
Medscape
Me: I was in a seniors complex for 10 years - over 12 years ago and those who drank alcohol died like flies - I'm late 70's now and expect to live to my 90's or perhaps even longer - what a waste that alcohol kills so many and so young, in potentially older age/life.
My mother was a heavy drinker. She drank 1 bottle of vodka every day for years. It affected her brain because she became increasingly irritable, unable to control her outbursts of anger or grandiosity. She also developed clots in her groin that might (according to her doctors) lead to heart attack or pulmonary embolism. She also had a silent heart attack which caused her concern--but didn't control her drinking. She was also a heavy smoker. So she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She made at least one suicide attempt. So when she died in 1983 at age 73, without an autopsy we wouldn't know whether she died of a heart attack, lung cancer, or suicide. Now you could say 73 is not an early death. HOWEVER, her mother, who didn't smoke or drink, died in her mid 90's. So I think she died sooner than she would have died without all her drug abuse. Yes, I count alcohol and tobacco as drugs. Especially when used daily as mood regulators.