Baby Boomers are the never-want-to-grow-old generation.
So they are doing what they can to keep old age at arm’s length: They are Botoxing, they are exercising, they are getting better about their nutrition.
But in their celebration of life as empty nesters or retirees or as Boomers are who are just trying to enjoy life, their drinking could result in serious health problems.
As one health official put it, Baby Boomers are reading labels in the grocery store, but they’re not reading labels in the liquor store.
“People need to be mindful of the risks associated with risky drinking in the same way this generation is more mindful of nutrition in general,” said Dr. Robert Huebner, acting director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s Division of Treatment and Recovery Research.
“The baby boomer generation is reading labels in the grocery store and counting their cholesterol.”
He made his comments in a recent MarketWatch.com story that looked at what might 
happen if Baby Boomers forget about moderation when it comes to that bottle of wine or other alcoholic indulgences.
High blood pressure, liver disease, pancreatitis and certain cancers are the health issues to consider as a result of over-doing it.
The MarketWatch story cited data showing between 2000 to 2008, the number of substance abuse treatment admissions for people age 50 and older increased by 70 percent, according to a recent study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Previous SAMHSA research suggested that the number of older substance abusers may rise to as many as 4.4 million by 2020, up from 1.7 million seniors in 2001.
“There are two key demographic issues. One is that the baby boomers are the largest cohort in history, and right now, all of the people aged 50-59 are baby boomers. And the other is that the baby boomers were part of a very high drug-use [culture] in general,” Peter Delany, director of SAMHSA’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, said to MarketWatch.
The government has created a do-it-yourself guide online to measure drinking habits. It’s called “Rethinking Drinking: Alcohol and Your Health.”
By answering some questions (remember, honesty is the best policy) you can check your own drinking patterns and determine if there are signs of a problem. If so, it offers tools to make a change for the better.
You are at “low risk”, for example, if (as a man) you consume no more than four drinks a day, and no more than 14 per week. For women, low risk means no more than three drinks per day and no more than seven per week.
Why the difference?
According to the “Rethinking Drinking” web site:
“One reason is that, on average, women weigh less than men. In addition, alcohol disperses in body water, and pound for pound, women have less water in their bodies than men do. So after a man and woman of the same weight drink the same amount of alcohol, the woman’s blood alcohol concentration will tend to be higher, putting her at greater risk for harm.”
Reasons not to drink at all (you’ve heard them but they’re worth repeating) include:
— Taking medications that interact badly with alcohol;
— Managing a medical condition that can be made worse by drinking;
— Being underage;
— Being pregnant or trying to get pregnant;
— Planning to drive or operate machinery.
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