Don’t shoot the messenger, but baby boomers are hitting the bottle at alarming levels.
Just this week, baby boomers received new warnings about alcohol as alcohol-related deaths of people over 50 rose. The number of deaths attributed solely to alcohol has risen 45% since 2001, according to a report released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.
While this study was based on the United Kingdom, baby boomers in the United States do no better. One in eight Americans has an alcohol disorder, according to a study published in August 2017 in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s Psychiatry. While the survey showed that alcohol-related disorders increased for the US population, overall, some of the steepest increases were among baby boomers. For example, high-risk alcohol use increased 65.2 percent and alcoholism increased 106.7 percent among people 65 and older over the past decade.
By 2020, the number of people receiving treatment for substance abuse problems is expected to double in Europe and triple in the US, among those over 50.
This is bad news for baby boomers, as alcohol is linked to more than 60 illnesses and diseases including heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and dementia.
WHY DO BABY BOOMERS DRINK TOO MUCH?
We were the generation famous for drinking a martini or Manhattan after work, as often depicted on the Madmen TV show. But is there something more to this growing problem of alcohol abuse? Probably.
Recent studies report that baby boomers, especially those in their 50s and 60s, are statistically the most unhappy age group. Many boomers face stressful events such as declining health, raising teenagers, impending college enrollments, adult children returning home, caring for elderly parents, menopause, the loss of a loved one, and social isolation.
Add to that financial stress. According to studies, baby boomers are more concerned than any other age group about retirement security. Many boomers confess that they did not set aside enough money for retirement and are heading into their golden years with mortgages and credit card debt.
All this worry, stress, and depression can easily trigger alcohol misuse if left unchecked.
Another factor can be traced to the disappointment of our generation who expected a better world. “What does alcohol mean to our generation?” asks Christina Fraser, Relationship Counselor for Coupleworks and herself a baby boomer. “We drink to fill a void. Our parents had a job, retired, and dropped dead two years later. They worked hard and had fewer opportunities. Baby boomers were given the promise of a world full of possibilities. See that world close down.” .
WHAT IS CONSIDERED TO DRINK TOO MUCH?
Baby boomers who love wine on the dot may be surprised to hear what is considered binge drinking. Drinking in moderation is 1 drink a day for women and 2 drinks a day for men. So maybe you’re thinking that you don’t drink every day, mostly only on weekends.
Do the math. Women are considered “heavy drinkers” if they have eight or more drinks a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Men can be 14.
A standard “drink”, by the way, is not that big full-filled wine glass, a huge frosted mug, or a giant Hurricane glass. The CDC says a drink is 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of hard liquor. If you consume more than these standard serving sizes, it counts for more than one drink.
While studies show that moderate alcohol consumption can be part of a healthy lifestyle for many people, those benefits quickly turn into health risks. These dangers include an increased risk of cancer, heart and liver disease.
In fact, in the immediate aftermath of the new study warning baby boomers to stop binge drinking, comes another statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) that “even low drinking increases cancer risk.” ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton said alcohol has long been a known human carcinogen, or is known to cause cancer, within the medical community.
Moderate drinkers nearly double their risk of mouth and throat cancer and more than double the risk of esophageal cancer compared to nondrinkers. They also face elevated risks for laryngeal cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer.
The risk to heavy drinkers is much higher and frankly sobering (excuse the pun). Heavy drinkers face approximately five times the risk of mouth and throat cancers and squamous cell esophageal cancers than non-drinkers, nearly three times the risk of laryngeal cancers, twice the risk of liver cancer, as well as a increased risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.
WAYS TO CUT
So baby boomers have been warned. How can we reduce alcohol consumption?
Reduce the number of days you drink alcohol. In fact, you may want to abstain for a week or a month to see how you feel physically and emotionally without alcohol in your life.
Reduce the amount of alcohol you drink at one time. If you normally drink two glasses of wine, make it one.
If you drink too much, avoid people, places, things, and certain activities that make you want to drink. For example, baby boomers love to splurge on dining out, but this luxury often drives people to drink more. If this is the case, consider dining out less often.
Find healthy alternatives for dealing with stress, loneliness, or anger. For example, if you are tempted to have a drink, go for a walk, go to the garden or take a long bubble bath.
Experts say that alcohol abuse among older people is not a problem that will just go away on its own. This new data should serve as a wake-up call for all baby boomers to examine their drinking habits.