Drinking is harmful to health at any age. But as you get older, the risks become bigger – even with the same amount of drinks.
Alcohol affects “virtually all body systems,” including muscles, blood vessels, digestive system, heart and brain, said Sara Jo Nixon, director of the University of Florida University Research and Education Center. “It especially impacts the elderly, because there is already some decline or impact on these areas.”
“There is a totally different set” of risk factors for the health of the elderly who drink, said Paul Sacco, professor of social work at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, who studies the use of substances and aging. People may not realize that drinks that once tolerated well now affect their brains and bodies differently, he said.
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Alcohol may have new problems in old age – especially from the age of 65 – even for those who drink little or occasionally. The elderly tend to have less muscle mass and retain less water in tissues compared to the younger ones, which can increase blood alcohol concentration, explained Aaron White, senior advisor to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (Niaaa). This means that fewer drinks are needed for the elderly to feel intoxicated, increasing the risk of serious lesions for falls.
According to Nixon’s research, the elderly also have deficits in working memory with blood alcohol concentrations lower than young people. In another study in which Nixon worked, some elderly in driving simulations showed signs of commitment after less than a drink.
Drinking alcohol can increase the risk of developing chronic diseases such as dementia, diabetes, cancer, hypertension and heart disease. But it can also make the results worse for most elderly people who already live with chronic diseases, said Aryn Phillips, assistant professor of policies and health administration at the University of Illinois in Chicago, who studies alcohol and aging.
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Drug interactions also enter the scene. Mixing alcohol with prescribed remedies that the elderly usually take, such as for diabetes or hypertension, can make medications less effective or cause harmful side effects such as ulcers or irregular heartbeat. Benzodiazepines, when combined with alcohol, can decrease breathing and act as a powerful sedative. Even medicines sold without recipe can be dangerous. Aspirin, which some elderly people take to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease (despite possible side effects), can cause severe gastrointestinal bleeding, to which the elderly are already at risk, Michael Wheeler, Professor of Nutrition Science at East Carolina University, who researches alcohol -induced liver diseases.
Some elderly also claim that the hangover gets worse with age. Although there is no strong scientific evidence that supports this, hangover may seem worse because alcohol may aggravate other symptoms of aging, such as bad sleep, White said.
How to reduce your risk
Experts say that the consumption of alcohol among the elderly seems to have increased in recent years, although national trends are difficult to keep up with self-relate research. A 2023 federal survey showed that 12% of adults 65 or older – about 7 million people – reported drunk at least four or five doses at a single occasion in the previous month.
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After decades of confusing messages on the harm and health benefits of health, recent studies have made it clear that no amount of alcohol is good for you. Still, Sacco acknowledged that “drinking has meaning to people,” and deciding to moderate or stop completely “is a decision you should make in consultation with your doctor and your loved ones.”
But what is the “safe” amount of drink for the elderly? This is difficult to say. Available studies that try to establish exactly how much alcohol increases health risks in older populations use different parameters for moderate consumption, which makes consensus difficult. “Even as an expert in the area, I understand the confusion,” said Wheeler.
Nixon advised that adults 65 and over consume a drink a day and do not exceed seven a week. (Naiaa does not set guidelines on alcohol consumption, but disease control and prevention centers define moderate consumption for adults of all ages as up to two drinks a day for men and one drink per day for women.)
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All experts have emphasized that the elderly should pay close attention to the body’s response to alcohol and stop or reduce consumption if they feel that it is affecting them more physically or cognitively.
“If you are not drinking today, do not start,” said Phillips. And if you drink, be honest with your doctor about your consumption and do it in a safe environment, knowing that your tolerance may not be the same as before, he added.
“The answer need not be abstinence,” said Nixon. But aging healthily “probably doesn’t include multiple drinks a day for most people.”
c.2025 The New York Times Company
