Not very long ago, we highlighted worrisome trends of alcohol consumption in older adults. Now we can report more worrisome news about what even moderate alcohol consumption can do to your physical health. First, as reported elsewhere in agebuzz, we now have a new study implicating alcohol as one of the most important (and modifiable) factors in cancer diagnoses and deaths. According to new research published by the American Cancer Society, alcohol is the 3rd most common factor implicated in cancer diagnoses, behind smoking and excess body weight. About 5% of all cancer cases are caused by alcohol, a link that is not commonly understood by consumers of alcohol. There is no doubt that alcohol is a carcinogen. In real numbers, that translates to 24,000 cancer deaths and 95,000 cancer diagnoses each year. Furthermore, what matters when it comes to alcohol and cancer is not the type of alcohol you consume, but rather the quantity and frequency of your drinking. The more you drink alcohol the higher your risk of cancer, though even modest consumption of alcohol does not mean you’re totally in the clear. For more on this lethal connection, dump out your ice and read here.

Cancer is not the only serious health concern associated with alcohol consumption. A recent summary from STAT lists a range of concerns beyond cancer, including liver disease (½ of all liver disease deaths in the US are caused by alcohol), coronary heart disease, alcohol use disorder, hypertension, and dementia. Medical News Today goes on to describe links that have been found between alcohol use and anxiety (this is bidirectional: alcohol use can cause anxiety disorders and those with anxiety often use alcohol as a coping mechanism). This post goes on to attribute alcohol to such other potential harms as pancreas damage, brain damage, stroke, impotence, and depression. There’s even evidence that ingesting alcohol on a plane can be potentially harmful, as it can increase your heart rate and decrease your blood oxygen levels beyond what a high-altitude flight will already do.

For older adults, the consumption of alcohol gets even more complicated. Alcoholism itself is implicated with accelerated biological aging (though effective treatment can reverse this) and older adults are likely to feel the impacts of alcohol more strongly than they experienced as younger adults. As you age, you are less able to quickly metabolize alcohol (partly because you have less water in your body so your blood alcohol level will be higher) so one strong drink as an older adult may feel the same as consuming several drinks when you were younger. In essence, the effects of alcohol will build up quickly and last longer. This doesn’t even take into account any medications you may take that will further impair your alcohol metabolism or the possibility that those drugs may become less effective in your system because of the presence of alcohol. While taking in more food and water as you drink alcohol will mitigate some of these effects, the reality is that being an older adult means recognizing changes in your tolerance level. For more on how much you can/should consume at different ages, read here.

Limiting or even foregoing alcohol, however, doesn’t mean the end of delightful and refreshing summer drinks. For some great summer “mocktails,” fill up your ice bucket and click here.