Problems of the Aging Baby Boomers

There are many pitfalls that women must face as they continue further into adulthood. According to an article in the Journal of Women and Aging the rate of alcoholic baby boomers are expected to rise. The article warns the reasons why drinking is more of a risk to women than men when it came to its long term physical and emotional effects. Women who drink problematically are more at risk of anxiety, depression, heart conditions, and abuse of prescribed psychoactive drugs. Because of the depression women are more susceptible to drink alone. Drinking alone eliminates the feeling of being watched by friends and family members. Feelings of being powerless and pressure from a spouse who drinks as well as inadequacies are also reasons as to why women turn to alcohol. The emotion of an empty nest and the loss of a parental role may contribute to the feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. Oftentimes men do not share these emotions.

Alcoholism is a major factor in the occurrence of Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is commonly occurs after menopause. This is another difference between alcohol consumption between men and women since men never experience menopause and have a much lower risk of osteoporosis due to a more dense bone density. Alcohol will also impair the brain and cognitive functions as well as the state of healthy bones. When older women participate in alcohol consumption they run the risk of increasing their menopause symptoms making their menopause worse. "Estrogen levels are increased by the conversion of androgens to estrogen through a process called aromotization. Alcohol consumption not only increases aromotization, but it is also thought to decrease the metabolism of estradiol (an estrogen) allowing for more to remain in the bloodstream." (Register et al.,2002). Since the decrease of metabolizing estrogen occurs because of alcohol the worse menopausal symptoms are.

There is a domino effect regarding the connection between drinking, osteoporosis and menopause. By the age of 35 women begin to lose bone mass at the rate of .5% to 1%. Estrogen is something that helps absorb the bone mass. If an older woman consumes alcohol at a higher rate than she should, she's actually destroying her retention for estrogen which makes her menopause worse. With her estrogen deteriorating she has less success in holding on to her bone mass which puts her at high risk for osteoporosis. Drinking in women can lead to menopause, osteoporosis, and a high chance of heart disease.

There are arguments that indicate alcohol consumption is good for the body. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services in 2005 one standard drink a day is associated with health benefits. Having a drink a day is dangerous because of the addictive nature of the substance. Not only is realizing the occurrence of an alcohol dependency is as hard as treating the actual alcohol dependency. In order for the health benefits argument to hold water the lifestyle of the individual must be taken into account as well. The person's rate of mobility, daily exercise routines, level of activity and sociability accounts must all be taken into consideration before simply saying a drink a day can make you healthier. A combination of efforts towards a person's health is what makes them healthy.

Al-Otaiba, Z., Epstein, E., Fischer-Elber, K., (2007) Women, Aging, and Alcohol Use Disorders. Journal of Women and Aging. 19(1/2), 31-48.

Register, T.C., Cline, M., & Shively, C.A. (2002). Health issues in postmenopausal women who drink. Alcohol and Research World, 26(4), 299-307.