Elderly drinkers may be putting themselves at risk
By Deborah L. Shelton |Tribune reporter
22 April 2008

The 71-year-old former community college teacher was struggling in her retirement. She missed her job. Divorced and living alone, with her children far away, she felt increasingly isolated and lonely.

As boredom and depression sunk in, she turned more and more to alcohol for solace.

But her drinking presented a whole new set of problems. The retired Chicago teacher stopped eating and lost weight, and she fell several times, injuring herself.

With the nation's population graying, health professionals have grown increasingly concerned about the number of people 65 and older who drink unhealthy amounts of alcohol.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reported that 9 percent of elderly Medicare beneficiaries—16 percent of the men and 4 percent of the women—engaged in unhealthy drinking. Researchers said those numbers could be conservative because they are based on self-reporting.
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