HealthBeat January 2019 Wk 2

HealthBeat This month’s feature topics are

Drug and Alcohol Abuse & Senior Living

HealthBeat January: Drug and Alcohol Abuse & Senior Living

Effects of alcohol

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ccording to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 56 percent of adults age 18 and over reported drinking alcohol in the past month.

The prevalence of alcohol is undeniable, and many drinkers seem unfazed by the short- and long-term effects of alcohol consumption.

While drinking in moderation may not necessarily prove harmful, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism notes that excessive alcohol consumption, whether it’s on a single occasion or over time, can take a serious toll on various areas of the body.

• Brain: Alcohol can affect how the brain looks and works, interfering with its communication pathways and potentially disrupting one’s mood and behavior. In addition, alcohol can affect a person’s ability to think clearly and adversely affect coordination.

• Heart: Heart problems associated with longtime excessive alcohol

consumption or even too much alcohol on a single occasion include cardiomyopathy, a disease of the heart muscle that compromises its ability to pump blood to the rest of the body.

Irregular heart beat, stroke and high blood pressure are some additional heart conditions that can result from excessive alcohol consumption.

• Pancreas: The pancreas is a gland located in the abdomen that, among other things, aids in the digestive process. The NIAAA notes that alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can lead to pancreatitis. An inflammation and swelling of blood vessels in the pancreas, pancreatitis can prevent proper digestion and produce pain in the upper abdomen that can spread to the back as well.

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• Liver: Cirrhosis, a chronic disease of the liver that’s often linked to alcoholism, may be the most widely known liver disease associated with alcohol. However, additional diseases, including alcoholic hepatitis, fibrosis and steatosis also may result from heavy drinking. Roughly 35 percent of long-term drinkers develop alcoholic hepatitis, the presence of which may require liver transplants if other courses of treatment, such as dietary changes and quitting alcohol, are ineffective. Fibrosis refers to scar tissue in the liver, while the Cleveland Clinic notes that steatosis, or fatty liver, that occurs after acute alcohol ingestion is generally reversible with abstinence.

• Immune system: Excessive alcohol consumption weakens the immune system, leaving acute and chronic heavy

drinkers vulnerable to disease. Single occasion heavy drinkers may find their ability to defend themselves against infection is weakened for up to 24 hours after getting drunk. Chronic heavy drinkers are more susceptible to diseases such as pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who drink in moderation or not at all.

• Cancer: Excessive alcohol consumption also has been linked to a host of cancers, including cancers of the mouth, esophagus, throat, liver, and breast.

More information is available at www. niaaa.org.

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January: Drug and Alcohol Abuse & Senior Living

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How seniors can maintain their mental acuity

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ging is associated with or linked to a host of mental and physical side effects.

For example, many adults expect their vision to deteriorate as they grow older.

Such a side effect can be combatted with routine eye examinations that may indicate a need for a stronger eyeglass prescription.

Some immediately associate such decline with Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible, progressive brain disorder that gradually destroys memory and cognitive skills, ultimately compromising a person’s ability to perform even the simplest of tasks. Learning about Alzheimer’s and how to maintain mental acuity can help aging men and women better understand the changes their brains might be undergoing as they near or pass

retirement age.

Is Alzheimer’s disease hereditary?

The National Institute on Aging (NIA) notes that only a very rare form of Alzheimer’s disease is inherited. Earlyonset familial Alzheimer’s disease, or FAD, is caused by mutations in certain genes. If these genes are passed down from parent to child, then the child is likely, but not certain, to get FAD. So while many adults may be concerned about Alzheimer’s because one of their parents had the disease, the NIA

notes that the majority of Alzheimer’s cases are late-onset, which has no obvious family pattern.

Can Alzheimer’s disease be prevented?

Studies of Alzheimer’s disease are ongoing, but to date there is no definitive way to prevent the onset of the disease.

How can I maintain mental acuity as I age?

• Exercise regularly. Routine exercise may be most associated with physical benefits, but the NIA notes that such activity has been linked to benefits for the brain as well.

The NIA also notes that one study indicated exercise stimulated the brain’s ability to maintain old network connections and make new ones vital to cognitive health.

• Read more. Avid readers may be happy to learn that one of their favorite pastimes

can improve the efficiency of their cognitive systems while delaying such systems’ decline. A 2013 study published in the journal Neurology by researchers at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center found that mentally active lifestyles may not prevent the formations of plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer’s disease, but such lifestyles decreases the likelihood that the presence of plaques or tangles will impair cognitive function.

• Stay socially connected. Maintaining social connections with family, friends and community members also can help women prevent cognitive decline. Epidemiologist Bryan James of the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center studied how social activity affected cognitive decline, ultimately noting that the rate of cognitive decline was considerably lower among men and women who maintained social contact than it was among those with low levels of social activity.