Help combat a hidden epidemic AMA guidelines address elderly alcoholism.
Alcoholism is serious at any age.
In elderly patients the problem can be greatly compounded if it is missed by their physicians. That's something that happens much too often. Some physicians are reluctant to ask screening questions. Others are uncertain what to ask or fail to even suspect something is wrong. Copies of the 17-page booklet, endorsed by the American Society of Addiction Medicine, have been mailed to more than 110,000 primary care physicians.