(Brody JA, 1982) Demographic information suggests that the problems of alcohol abuse among the elderly will

increase at least in proportion to the population growth of that sector. While fewer older people drink and average consumption declines, four factors that promote alcohol abuse are noted. These are: 1) retirement, with its attendant boredom, change of role status, and loss of income; 2) deaths occurring among relatives and friends and the awareness that more deaths are coming; 3) poor health and discomfort; and 4) loneliness, a particular problem among elderly women. Surveys in older age groups, in addition to being costly, are of questionable value. Anecdotal evidence and several early studies, however, suggest that a high proportion of elderly (10 to 15 per cent) who seek medical attention for any reason have an alcohol-related problem, and that elderly alcoholics, whether alcoholism is of early or recent onset, are relatively easy to treat. If these findings can be confirmed, then detection during healthseeking encounters could have great potential value. Research in detection and treatment is critical. A prevention strategy involving the cohort 55 to 64 years of age could have the dual effect of preventing subsequent alcohol problems among these people and offering a message that would be heard by those at older and less accessible ages. (Cook, 2008) Chronic alcohol abuse exacts a major social and medical toll in the United States and other Western countries. One of the least appreciated medical complications of alcohol abuse is altered immune regulation leading to immunodeficiency and autoimmunity. The consequences of the immunodeficiency include increased susceptibility to bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. In addition, the chronic alcoholic often has circulating autoantibodies, and recent investigations indicate that the most destructive complications of alcoholism, such as liver disease and liver failure, may have a component of autoimmunity. Current research on altered cytokine balance produced by alcohol is leading to new insights on the regulation of the immune system in the chronic alcoholic. There is also recent development of exciting new techniques designed to improve or restore immune function by manipulation of cytokine balance. Although much remains to be learned, both in the abnormalities produced by alcohol and in the techniques to reverse those abnormalities, current progress reflects a rapidly improving understanding of the basic immune disorders of the alcoholic.

Bibliography
Brody JA, B. (1982). Aging and alcohol abuse. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society , 123-126. Cook, R. T. (2008). Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Los Angeles: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.