Addiction Archive

Most people drink less as they grow older. However, some maintain heavy drinking patterns throughout life, and some develop problems with alcohol for the first time during their later years. The many challenges that can arise at this stage of life — reduced income, failing health, loneliness, and the loss of friends and loved ones — may cause some people to drink to escape their feelings.

Several factors combine to make drinking — even at normal levels — an increasingly risky behavior as you age. Your ability to metabolize alcohol declines. After drinking the same amount of alcohol, older people have higher blood alcohol concentrations than younger people because of such changes as a lower volume of total body water and slower rates of elimination of alcohol from the body. That means the beer or two you could drink without consequence in your 30s or 40s has more impact in your 60s or 70s.

A father struggles to understand the terrible course of his son’s heroin addiction and the loss of a child who eventually died from an accidental overdose.

While the holiday season is a time of festivities and reconnecting with family, for people in recovery from substance use disorders, these specific situations and events can be especially stressful. For them it’s crucial to plan ahead and to make sure recovery remains the priority at all times.

The changes in understanding around substance use disorders are making treatment more readily available to those who need it and reducing the stigma attached to addiction, but may make those with addiction in their family history feel that the change has come too late for them.

Ask the doctors

Q. I'm currently taking a pill that combines 5 milligrams (mg) of oxycodone and 325 mg of acetaminophen. It keeps my pain under control and doesn't seem to interfere with other medicines I'm taking. However, I was reading about opioids and wonder if it falls in that category. If it does, should I be taking it?

A. Oxycodone is an opioid, but acetaminophen, the generic form of Tylenol, isn't. A combination of the two, sold as Endocet, Percocet, and Roxicet, as well as in a generic version, is a popular medication for pain control. Both oxycodone and acetaminophen should be used with caution. Oxycodone should be taken for the shortest time possible because long-term use of oxycodone has been associated with addiction and dependence. High doses of acetaminophen can cause liver damage.