Everyone knows that heavy drinking is a bad thing, but new research says that the effects reach a lot further than once thought. Those that are labeled as “heavy drinkers” in middle age are much more apt to have problems when they are senior citizens. A recent study has shown that there may be a link between drinking and stroke mortality rates during the elderly years.
The definition of heavy drinking for this study was having more than two drinks per day. Strokes are difficult to predict with any sort of accuracy, but the link was pretty strong, even stronger than genetic risk. The study also accounted for other health factors like high blood pressure and diabetes. For those that drank heavily and died of a stroke later on, the mortality age was about five years earlier than those that died from stroke and were not heavy drinkers.
If you have an elderly loved one, there’s nothing you can do now about their past. If they are still drinking heavily, encourage them to get help if it is needed. Be as supportive as possible and understand that beating any addiction is difficult. Either way, make sure that proper prevention measures are in place. There are a lot of little things that can be done, like eating better, exercising, and ensuring that you are getting in to see your doctor for regular health assessments. You will also want to make sure that proper care is in place. In-home care is an affordable and non-intrusive way to keep your loved one cared for when you are out of the house. A trained caregiver does more than just supervise, too. If an emergency does arise, enlisting the help of a trained, professional caregiver could actually save their life. Research shows that the earlier that a stroke is detected and treated in a medical facility, the better the chances of a full recovery become. If your loved one is already at a higher risk because of health factors, taking steps like this will tilt the odds a little bit more into their favor.
In-home caregivers can also keep an eye on your loved one if there are continued concerns about drinking. Getting the alcohol out of your house is a good first step, but with the help of a caregiver, you can better ensure that it stays out, too. Just be careful that your instructions are clearly spelled out before you expect this out of your caregiver.
According to this study, heavy drinkers had a 34 percent higher chance of early mortality due to a stroke than light drinkers did. If you are currently middle aged and helping to care for a parent, this is news that you can use for your own health, too. Doing little things earlier in life will help you to have a better lifestyle during your retirement years. This is especially helpful if you are working on providing care for a loved one as you can see how tough being in a situation like this is. Stopping health problems before they occur is the best way to have better health when you are older, too.
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