ALCOHOLISM CALLED GROWING PROBLEM AMONG ELDERLY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 5, 1992                   TAG: 9202050033
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cox News Service
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short
ALCOHOLISM CALLED GROWING PROBLEM AMONG ELDERLY
Loneliness and isolation are increasingly driving old people to drinking, a congressional report warned Tuesday.
Alcoholism affects nearly 2.5 million elderly Americans, and up to half of all nursing-home residents have alcohol-related problems, said the report by the House Select Committee on Aging.
"Widowers over the age of 75 have the highest rate of alcoholism in the country," said the report, "Alcohol Abuse and Misuse Among the Elderly."
The report also said the elderly have the highest rate of success of any age group in regaining sobriety. However, they are the least likely to seek treatment.
The problems of drinking among the elderly are compounded by the body changes that accompany aging, and result both in a lower tolerance for alcohol and an increased susceptibility to its toxic effects.
But witnesses said it is the emotional and psychological trauma that too often accompanies aging that turns many elderly people to drinking.
"Of all hospitalized patients, 25 percent have alcohol-related problems, but for the elderly, this figure is much higher - 56 percent," said Rep. Mary Rose Oakar, D-Ohio. "It behooves Congress to develop a plan for treating alcoholism among the elderly."

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB