Drug and Alcohol Use Among the Elderly
Drug and Alcohol Use Among the Elderly
Elderly people are the fastest-growing segment of the world population, and they consume about 25 percent of all the medicines prescribed. Because aging causes changes in various systems of the body, the ability to handle medication is different in the elderly than in the young. Alcohol abuse among older people can lead to falls, fractures, and other medical complications. The addition of medications (prescription and over-the-counter) to alcohol drinking can lead to disastrous complications and even premature death. However, recent research has suggested that drinking low to moderate amounts of alcohol (one to two standard-sized drinks per day) may help protect against the development of heart disease and stroke. Because the elderly are more susceptible to side effects from all types of substances (prescription and otherwise), the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has advised people over 65 to limit themselves to a single drink each day. At any rate, even this amount of alcohol should be approved by the individual's physician, to make sure that the combination of alcohol and medical conditions or medications is safe.
See Organizations of Interest at the back of Volume 2 for address, telephone, and URL.
see also Families and Drug Use; Treatment Types: An Overview.
More From encyclopedia.com
Alcohol And Health , Alcohol is a central-nervous-system depressant that affects judgment, coordination, and inhibition. Mild alcohol intoxication causes a relaxed and ca… Alcohol , ALCOHOL. The word "alcohol" is derived from the Arabic word al kuhul, meaning 'essence'. The favorite mood-altering drug in the United States, as in… Fetal Alcohol Syndrome , Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) represents a preventable pattern of clinical abnormalities that develop during embryogenesis (the developmental stages s… Antabuse , Antabuse, also known by its scientific name disulfiram, medication was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USDA) in 1951 for the treat… Rubbing Alcohol , Rubbing alcohol is known as isopropyl alcohol (C 3H 8O); it is one of the more useful of the commercial alcohols, included in hand lotions and many c… Denatured Alcohol , denatured alcohol
alcohol, denatured
alcohol, denatured Drinkable alcohol is subject to tax in most countries and for industrial use it is denatured…
About this article
Drug and Alcohol Use Among the Elderly
You Might Also Like
NEARBY TERMS
Drug and Alcohol Use Among the Elderly