Over 60s, especially, should take extra care after a couple of drinks

A recent study has found that older people,in their early sixties are apt to stumble after having consumed just a couple of alcoholic drinks the previous night. Even though the level of alcohol consumed was below the legal levels deemed safe for drivers, the results indicated that as people get older they need to take care when walking after just a couple of drinks.

The research involved 13 healthy men and women with an average age of 62. They were given just two single vodka and orange drinks and were observed as to how they reacted to an obstacle avoidance test while walking.

Judith Hegeman one of the researchers who is from Saint Maartens Hospital, Nijmegen in The Netherlands, said: "The results clearly show even with low blood alcohol concentrations, reactions to sudden gait perturbations are seriously affected.

"After ingestion of two alcoholic drinks, obstacles were hit twice as often, response times were delayed and response amplitudes were reduced.

"These changes were most obvious in situations with little available response time."

The study, published in BMC Research Notes, states that the volunteers were required to walk on a treadmill at a steady walking pace, while a thin wooden block placed at the far end of the belt moved towards them. The researchers observed the capability or otherwise of the volunteers of stepping over the block in time, while under the influence of a small amount of alcohol.

Ms Hegeman explained:"We found alcohol levels - considered to be safe for driving - seriously hamper the ability to successfully avoid sudden obstacles in the travel path.

"A possible limitation of this study is the relatively small sample size. However, even with the small number it yielded an unequivocal outcome."

The researcher added that it is well known of course that alcohol has clear effects on driving and that is why there is a legal limit for blood alcohol concentration (BAC). However, there are no legal limits for walking, but there have been well known cases of people stumbling and falling over after imbibing an excess of alcohol.

Clearly, even low levels of alcohol affects brain function and reaction time when walking.

It is always necessary to take care when walking but it does seem that people over 60 in particular should be extra vigilant after a couple of drinks. This also applies when at home as it has also been found that 20 per cent of falls at home may be due to having consumed some amount of alcohol in the preceding six hours.

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