Alcohol use greatly increases a senior’s risk of a brain bleed from a fall The risk increases with a senior’s frequency of drinking Seniors who drink daily have 2.5 times the risk of a fall-related brain bleed MONDAY, Aug. 12, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking can increase a senior’s risk of a brain bleed following a , even if they only occasionally imbibe, a new study finds.
In fact, the risk of a brain bleed increases with a senior’s level of drinking, researchers found. Occasional or weekly drinking doubled a person’s risk of a brain bleed following a fall, while daily drinking made it 2.5 times more likely that falling would cause a bleed, results show.
“One of the unexpected findings in our study was the strong dose‒response relationship between reported alcohol use and intracranial hemorrhage,” said senior researcher , a professor of emergency medicine with the Florida Atlantic University College of Medicine. Nationally, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in seniors, researchers said in background notes. In 2021, falls led to the deaths of 36,500 older adults in the United States.
For the study, researchers analyzed data for more than 3,100 seniors ages 65 and older who were treated at two Palm Beach County trauma centers for a head injury sustained during a fall. About 18% of the patients said they drink alcohol, with 6% indicating daily consumption, results show. Nearly 14% of all the Palm Beach fall victims were diagnosed.