Alcohol abuse: medical effects of heavy drinking in late life.

As many as 15% of community-dwelling older persons are heavy drinkers, but their alcoholism is often hidden from their physicians. Depression, loneliness, and lack of social support are the most frequently cited antecedents to drinking for older alcoholics. Clinically, the same amount of alcohol once consumed with impunity may cause clinical symptoms in late life. Physiologic changes in volume of distribution make older patients susceptible to acute alcohol toxicity, with its CNS effects and metabolic disturbances. Liver disease, nutritional deficiencies, and impotence are consequences of chronic alcohol abuse.