Alcohol abuse among seniors is increasing

Alcohol-related hospitalizations among seniors increased significantly

05/31/2012

As the Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) reports, the alcohol abuse among seniors has increased significantly in the past ten years. As a result, elderly people are increasingly being hospitalized for alcohol-related illnesses. Since the year 2000, the number of over 65-year-old patients, who had to be cared for in a clinic for alcohol-related mental disorders, increased in some federal states by more than 75 percent, according to the TK.

Often the older women and men are not aware of the fact that the alcohol tolerance decreases with age, reports the TC. While they tolerated the alcohol well in younger years, the same amount in the age leads to a clear „higher alcohol levels, as the amount of water in the body decreases over the years“, explained the health insurance in their press release. In addition, the liver in elderly need longer for the reduction of alcohol and often risky drug interactions are added. Therefore, advise the TC „basically to question your own alcohol consumption critically.“ A first step could be a confidential conversation with the family doctor.

The society has a massive alcohol problem
With reference to the figures of the Federal Statistical Office, the TK warned against the significant increase in alcohol-related inpatient treatment of seniors. Men are particularly affected in their age by significant problems with their alcohol consumption. According to the health insurance company, four out of five patients who had to be hospitalized for more than seven days for alcohol abuse were male. In the press release of the TK country representative in Hessen on the subject of alcohol abuse of the elderly, the managing director of the Hessian State Office for Addiction Issues, Wolfgang Schmidt-Rosengarten, is quoted as saying: „This development shows that in our society a massive alcohol problem runs through all ages. Not only for young people - as it is predominantly perceived.“ The rise in hospital admissions for alcohol abuse has risen almost equally among the older women from Hesse (74 percent) and senior citizens (76 percent) in recent years, according to TK Weiter.

Lack of tasks and loneliness as the cause of alcohol consumption
In addition to the generally increased susceptibility of the organism to alcohol in old age, according to Wolfgang Schmidt-Rosengarten often for the alcohol problems in senior citizens „Critical phases of life in which the individuals sometimes retire or lack of work by retiring, which then cause frustration or boredom. "The seniors lack the meaning in life, they are socially isolated and often have the feeling, no more According to the experts, there is often a lack of social control, „the one still at a young age through the partner or at work by colleagues or the supervisor“ had, so the statement of the TK. The increased susceptibility to alcohol have the consequence that even relatively small amounts lead to drunkenness and an associated risk of falling or accident. Hospital deliveries are therefore usually due, because the seniors run around disoriented or injured in falls, reports the TK. (Fp)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann