• Age.
• Gender.
• Race or ethnicity.
• Physical condition (weight, fitness level, etc).
• Amount of food consumed before drinking.
• How quickly the alcohol was consumed.
• Use of drugs or prescription medicines.
• Family history of alcohol problems.

Older people tend to react to alcohol more than young adults. Since many seniors are on prescription medicines thus making them more at risk. And young adults are just as much as risk as older people since they tend to drink a lot more.

Excessive alcohol use, either in the form of heavy drinking (drinking more than two drinks per day on average for men or more than one drink per day on average for women), or binge drinking (drinking 5 or more drinks during a single occasion for men or 4 or more drinks during a single occasion for women), can lead to increased risk of health problems such as liver disease or unintentional injuries.

According to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey, more than half of the adult U.S. population drank alcohol in the past 30 days. Approximately 5% of the total population drank heavily, while 15% of the population binge drank.

According to the Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) tool, from 2001–2005, there were approximately 79,000 deaths annually attributable to excessive alcohol use. In fact, excessive alcohol use is the 3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for people in the United States each year.

This forensic test is used by a variety of individuals, professionals, corporations and agencies to get definitive answers about alcohol abuse among clients, defendants, relatives, victims, and employees who may have been touched by alcohol abuse.

• Attorneys, law enforcement agencies – use in custody cases to determine if a parent is fit to have custody, test repeat offenders of DUI, spousal abuse, post-accident testing of the person at fault if BAC was not established quickly enough, such as in a hit-n-run case.
• Human resources – find out if current employees or potential new hires are abusing alcohol to determine fitness to work (especially with vehicles and heavy machinery or public safety jobs) or to investigate a decline in job performance. Can also be used by staffing agencies that screen potential hires for substance abuse.
• Healthcare professionals, healthcare facilities – identify people with alcohol addiction or prove a patient does not have a dependency problem, measure efficacy of an alcohol treatment program, detect recidivism among alcoholic population, screen organ donors.
• Forensics – detection of ethanol in a post-mortem toxicology report may provide insight into the individual’s history of alcohol consumption which may be relevant to a case or cause of death; provide evidence of alcohol abuse as a probable cause of wrongdoing or foul play.
• Parents and other relatives – test your teenagers or other family members to be certain they are not abusing alcohol, detect potential abuse problems early in development in order to institute corrective treatment.
• Public Sector: Many public organizations and sectors examining the physiological and behavioral effects of alcohol can utilize this test to aid in their research (i.e. studies between the correlation of alcohol habits and risk of vehicular accidents).

The AbuseCheck™ Hair Alcohol Abuse Test is a non-invasive testing procedure which provides a definitive timeline of alcohol abuse from one to six months depending on the test administered, to identify individuals with recent histories of alcohol abuse. While blood tests are used when a person is intoxicated, the Hair Alcohol Abuse Test has a longer detection window than urine, blood or saliva, and yields accurate usage history needed to prove alcohol abuse and/or dependency, which is defined as average levels of alcohol consumption in excess of 60 grams of alcohol per day -which is the level at which the World Health Organization (WHO) believe there is a high probability of suffering from related medical problems if sustained over a significant period of time.

The Hair Alcohol Abuse Test is convenient because hair samples are easily acquired; and since hair cannot be adulterated, the test delivers accurate results that determine whether or not the subject is an abusive alcohol drinker. All work is done by an accredited laboratory that processes 1000s of Hair Alcohol Abuse Tests tests each year, and growing! Results are available within two weeks.

Learn more about Hair Alcohol Abuse Test.

Drinking is a problem if it causes trouble in your relationships, in school, in social activities, or in how you think and feel. If you are concerned that either you or someone in your family might have a drinking problem, talk to your doctor. If you rink everyday with every meal, you probably should check with your doctor. Also drinking is a cutural thing. In Japan, every man is expected to drink after long hour at work. So their alcoholics probably need much higher dose to qualify as an alcoholic.

The fact is that families, friends, and healthcare workers often overlook their concerns about older people drinking. Sometimes trouble with alcohol in older people is mistaken for other conditions related to aging. But, how the body handles alcohol can change with age. Seniors may have the same drinking habits, but their bodies have changed.

Alcohol abuse can make seniors more likely to have accidents, including falls and fractures and car crashes. Family members should pay special attention to the seniors if they notice any sign of abuse.

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Because alcohol mixes with body water, a given amount of alcohol is less diluted in a woman’s body than in a man’s. Women become more impaired by alcohol’s effects and are more susceptible to alcohol–related organ damage. That is, women develop damage at lower levels of consumption over a shorter period of time.

Pregnant women should not consume any alcohol at all to avoid birth defects. Woman who drinks regularly should limit the amount that she consumes.

Source:National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

Often families, friends, and health care workers often overlook their concerns about older people drinking. People often think the symptoms of alcoholic in older people are just part of aging. But the problem is that as people get older, their body’s tolerance to alcohol also changes. They might get drunk easier and faster than they did before.

Drinking too much alcohol over a long time can:

• Lead to some kinds of cancer, liver damage, immune system disorders, and brain damage
• Worsen some health conditions like osteoporosis, diabetes, high blood pressure, and ulcers
• Make some medical problems hard for doctors to find and treat. For example, alcohol causes changes in the heart and blood vessels. These changes can dull pain that might be a warning sign of a heart attack.
• Cause some older people to be forgetful and confused. These symptoms could be mistaken for signs of Alzheimer’s disease.

Source: National Institute on Aging

Keep a small amount or no alcohol at home. Don’t keep temptations around.

Drink slowly.

When you drink, sip your drink slowly. Take a break of 1 hour between drinks. Drink soda, water, or juice after a drink with alcohol. Do not drink on an empty stomach! Eat food when you are drinking.

Take a break from alcohol.

Pick a day or two each week when you will not drink at all. Then, try to stop drinking for 1 week. Think about how you feel physically and emotionally on these days. When you succeed and feel better, you may find it easier to cut down for good.

Learn how to say NO.

You do not have to drink when other people drink. You do not have to take a drink that is given to you. Practice ways to say no politely. For example, you can tell people you feel better when you drink less. Stay away from people who give you a hard time about not drinking.

Stay active

What would you like to do instead of drinking? Use the time and money spent on drinking to do something fun with your family or friends. Go out to eat, see a movie, or play sports or a game.

Get support.

Cutting down on your drinking may be difficult at times. Ask your family and friends for support to help you reach your goal. Talk to your doctor if you are having trouble cutting down. Get the help you need to reach your goal.

Watch out for temptations.

Watch out for people, places, or times that make you drink, even if you do not want to. Stay away from people who drink a lot or bars where you used to go. Plan ahead of time what you will do to avoid drinking when you are tempted.

Do not drink when you are angry or upset or have a bad day. These are habits you need to break if you want to drink less.

DO NOT GIVE UP!

Most people do not cut down or give up drinking all at once. Just like a diet, it is not easy to change. That is okay. If you do not reach your goal the first time, try again. Remember, get support from people who care about you and want to help. Do not give up!

Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism

• Do you drink alone when you feel angry or sad?
• Does your drinking ever make you late for work?
• Does your drinking worry your family?
• Do you ever drink after telling yourself you won’t?
• Do you ever forget what you did while you were drinking?
• Do you get headaches or have a hang-over after you have been drinking?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you may have a drinking problem. Check with your doctor to be sure. Your doctor will be able to tell you whether you should cut down or abstain. If you are alcoholic or have other medical problems, you should not just cut down on your drinking–you should stop drinking completely. Your doctor will advise you about what is right for you.

Source: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)