CONTENTS

Table of Contents
Introduction

1. Overview
2. Recognizing Alcohol Misuse and Abuse in Older Adults
3. Alcohol and Aging
4. Diagnosing Alcohol Problems in Older Adults
5. Recognizing Other Forms of Substance Abuse
6. Prevention and Early Intervention Strategies
7. Treatment
8. Outcomes and Cost Issues in Alcohol Treatment for Older Adults
9. Legal and Ethical Issues

Supplements
Resources

At Any Age, It Does Matter:
Substance Abuse and Older Adults (for Professionals)

Physical Changes and Alcohol Use

Physiological changes make older adults more susceptible to the harmful effects of alcohol consumption. Alcohol can trigger or exacerbate problems among older adults, including:

• Increased risk of hypertension, cardiac arrhythmia, myocardial infarction, and cardiomyopathy
• Increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke
• Impaired immune system and ability to combat infection and cancer
• Cirrhosis and other liver diseases
• Decreased bone density
• Gastrointestinal bleeding
• Depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems
• Malnutrition
• Psychiatric disorders such as depression

Other biomedical changes of aging are cognitive impairments, which are both confused with and exacerbated by alcohol use. Alcohol abuse, for example, may accelerate the normal decline in physiological functioning that occurs with age.⁴ In addition, alcohol abuse may elevate older adults’ already high risk for injury, illness, and socioeconomic decline.⁵