Mature drinkers guidance review

Recommendations for very low levels of drinking among elderly consumers may be over-restrictive, according to the International Scientific Forum on Alcohol Research.

The results, which were drawn from research conducted in Australia, concluded that older people who drink four drinks a day had a lower mortality rate than that of non-drinkers.

While the authors contributing to the report ‘Examining risks and benefits of alcohol consumption’ concluded that not consuming alcohol on one or two days per week was associated with better outcomes, the conclusion was not in accordance with their own data.

The studies conducted in Australia of men aged 60-79 and women aged 70-75 years of age, found that men consuming up to four drinks a day and women up to two drinks a day had considerably lower risk of dying than non-drinkers. And for those who consumed one to two drinks a day, their total mortality risk was about 20-30% lower than for non-drinkers.
 
However, the report also determined that consumers of a more mature age are less able to break down alcohol, leaving them less able to cope with the effects of alcohol than younger people.

The effects of alcohol consumption in the elderly were thought to be more pronounced due to a decreased ability to break down alcohol, something which is thought to be caused by an average lower body weight as well as less body water, meaning that a higher blood alcohol concentration is registered at the same dose of consumption in a 70 year old man than a 35 year old.

To read an in-depth report on the latest drinking trends in Europe, see the August issue of the drinks business.

Jane Parkinson, 26.07.2010