Statistics show that many adults over 30 are binge drinking, and the problem is increasing especially among women (Credit: Reproduction/Pixabay)
You consider yourself a light to moderate drinker, having the occasional cocktail or glass of wine with dinner and just drinking a few extra glasses of liquid refreshment at social gatherings on the weekends. By most standards you would be right – because alcohol consumption is typically tracked as an average over the week.
“This causes many drinkers to erroneously assume that an average moderate level of drinking is safe, regardless of drinking pattern,” Rudolf Moos, professor emeritus of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, said in a statement.
Moos is a co-author of a recent study that found that many moderate drinkers over the age of 30 end up drinking too much on the weekend — defined as five or more drinks in a row or in a short period of time.
People who binge drinkers were about five times more likely to experience various problems with alcohol, such as “harming themselves, emotional or psychological problems from alcohol, having to use more alcohol to get the same effect, and experiencing the effects of alcohol at work, school or child care,” study co-author Charles Holahan, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, said in an email.
“What this means is that an individual whose total consumption is seven drinks on Saturday night has a higher risk profile than someone whose total consumption is one drink a day at dinner, even though their average consumption level is the same ” said Holahan.
Adult compulsive drinking
Most previous research on binge drinking has focused on the younger generation, usually teenagers and college students. Consuming several drinks at once is common in this segment of the population. But statistics show that many adults over 30 are binge drinking, and the problem is increasingespecially among women and adults over 65 years of age.
However, levels of binge drinking among adults can escape “public health scrutiny because it occurs among individuals who drink at a moderate average level,” Holahan said. “Currently, binge drinking among moderate drinkers is undetected in primary care settings.”
Women are especially sensitive to the effects of alcohol, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA).
Alcohol-related problems appear earlier and at lower levels of consumption than in men, said the NIAA. Women are more susceptible to brain damage and alcohol-related heart disease than men, and studies show that women who have one drink a day increase the risk of breast cancer by 5% to 9% compared to women who abstain.
For men and women over 65 years of age, the increase “is particularly concerning because many older adults use medications that can interact with alcohol, have health problems that can be exacerbated by alcohol, and may be more susceptible to alcohol-related falls. and other accidental injuries,” the NIAA said.
A ‘forgotten’ pattern
The new study, published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine used research data collected as part of the Midlife Development in the United States study which has followed a national sample of Americans ages 25 to 74 since 1995.
The study looked at nearly 1,300 drinkers over nine years and found that the majority of binge drinking — and multiple alcohol problems — occurred among moderate drinkers.
“An average moderate drinker of, say, one drink a day can hit that average with one drink a day at dinner or seven drinks a day on Saturday night,” Holahan said.
While this behavior doesn’t necessarily lead to alcoholism, Holahan said, the study found that drinking an average of more than one drink a day for women and two drinks a day for men — or five or more drinks on the same occasion — was related to alcohol problems. alcohol nine years later.
“These findings point to the need for alcohol interventions targeting moderate middle-level drinkers in addition to conventional strategies focused on the highest-risk, but lowest, population of high-level heavy drinkers,” Holahan said.
Is your drinking a problem?
How do you know if your alcohol use has become a problem? A telltale sign is when drinking is starting to interfere with your ability to live your daily life, experts say.
“Alcohol use disorder is defined as the compulsive use of alcohol despite the negative consequences of its use, such as an impact on your relationships, your ability to function at your job or in any role you have in your community” , Dr. Sarah Wakeman, medical director of the Substance Use Disorders Initiative at Mass General Brigham said in a previous interview .
Be cautious if you continue drinking despite the negative impacts on your physical or mental health. And it doesn’t have to be saying you’re sick or working with a hangover, Dr. Leena Mittal, chief of the division of women’s mental health in the department of psychiatry at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
“Don’t forget about relationships. Are you having more disagreements? Are the people in your life expressing concern or noticing that you are different? Hiding your drink or lying about it are also worrying behaviors,” Mittal said.
Here’s a red flag: you’re serving big drinks without realizing it. Current American Heart Association guidelines require no more than two standard drinks a day for men and one for women and anyone age 65 and older.
What is a standard drink? That’s 12 oz of regular beer, 4 oz of regular wine, or 1.5 oz of liquor, by US standards.
“Still, people can be pouring a huge glass of wine and not realize it’s actually two or three servings of wine and not just one,” Wakeman said.
“We know that millions of Americans drink above these levels, even in pre-pandemic times,” Wakeman said. “In 2019, about 66 million Americans had episodes where they drank more than recommended limits.”
If you (or a loved one) seem to be struggling with alcohol, don’t hesitate to seek help, experts emphasize. There are many different support groups that can help, such as 12-step programs and individual therapy.
#drink #weekends #study