Older people more at risk from booze problems
Older people are being warned to watch their drinking habits as new figures show they are overtaking youngsters for suffering from health problems due to alcohol.
The figures from NHS digital and analysed by the Royal College of Psychiatrists found that hospital admissions for mental disorders linked to alcohol have increased by a fifth among the middle-aged in the past five years.
They reveal that 30,642 over 50s were admitted to hospital for mental and behavioural disorders linked to alcohol in 2018/19 – up from 25,288 five years previously, a 21 per cent increase in people admitted for addiction, memory loss and dementia linked to drinking since 2013/14.
Among younger groups – those aged 15 to 49 – admissions have fallen by seven per cent in the same period.
A survey by Balance, the North East Alcohol Office, has found that in the North East, one in four adults (26%) are drinking above the national low risk guidelines of 14 units a week – around 550,000 people.
Middle aged people are most likely to be exceeding the weekly units – one in four aged 45-54 are drinking between 15-28 units a week, compared to 1 in 5 people aged 18-24.
Colin Shevills, director of Balance, said: “These figures are a worrying wake-up call and might reflect a reality that alcohol plays more of a part in the lives of older people than it does younger people.
“Heavy drinking is often blamed on younger people but it is people in their 40s and 50s who are often putting their health most at risk, although they might feel they are drinking responsibly.