Heavy Drinking Into Older Age Linked to Greater Risk of Stroke, Larger Waistline

A study in Addiction found 56 percent of drinkers 59 and older had been heavy drinkers at some point in their lifetime, which correlates with significantly larger waistlines and a higher risk of stroke, reports Psych Central . The researchers considered U.K. civil servants 34 to 56 years at study outset, from 1985 to 1988. The final sample was of 4,820 older adults, 59 to 83, mean age 69 and 75 percent male. Generally, heavy alcohol consumption over a lifetime is associated with higher blood pressure, poorer liver function, increased stroke risk, larger waist circumferences, and body mass index (BMI) in later life, even if the participants stop drinking heavily before 50 years. Twenty-one percent of the sample were current hazardous drinkers and 5 percent consistent hazardous drinkers — both of these types were primarily male, mainly Caucasian, and likely to hold senior-level jobs. Former later, current, and consistent hazardous drinkers had much higher systolic blood pressure and poorer liver function than never hazardous drinkers. Moreover, current hazardous drinkers had three times the risk of stroke, and former later hazardous drinkers had about twice the risk of non-cardiovascular disease mortality versus never hazardous drinkers. Furthermore, lifetime hazardous drinkers had significantly larger waist circumferences and BMI than never hazardous drinkers, with the magnitude growing with more current and consistent hazardous drinking.