It may have been asked and answered before, but I’ll ask anyways.
I noticed that many older people who drink A LOT, and they’re usually men, look rather youthful as far as wrinkles and complexion go. I know one old guy who’s almost 70, but just to look you’d guess 50’s; his skin is like mine for the most part, and I’m only in my 20’s!! It’s only his hair and stiff posture that give him away.
Sometimes people jokingly say they “pickle” themselves with all the alcohol over the years, but I wonder if there is any truth to it. I’ve heard before that drunks often look years if not decades younger than they really are (the ones who don’t live on the street at least), so what gives??
Is there some chemical reason for this? Do they just lead a more blurred, layed-back lifestyle out of the sun? Or have I just personally noticed a disproportionate number of alcoholics who’ve coincidently aged well?
Maybe their faces don’t look so wrinkled because of alcoholic bloating. I can’t say I’ve noticed the effect you speak of myself, but then again I don’t know many old alcoholics. I do know that young alcoholics don’t look any better than their non-alcoholic peers. I’ve known some who looked ten to twenty years older than they really are.
Well, I’ve got a number of older practicing alcoholics in my medical practice, and they all look a lot older than their years. Of course, by the time they’re willing to come to see me, they’re suffering the effects of liver and other diseases, and generally turning a bit yellow and smelling pretty bad. And the younger ones who I suspect of being “problem” drinkers based on what they and their family tell me are generally looking at least as old as their stated age, if not older. Now, the ones who have sobered up often look a lot younger than they are, but then they’re generally taking better care of themselves overall.
Just my observations, no reliable data to back it up. I’ve heard that old saying a lot too, but generally never noted much evidence to back it up
I’ve never heard that said, but I can’t believe it’s true. Most alcoholics are also smokers, and I can tell an older drinker/smoker often just by looking at them.
Now that I think about it though, my closest friend is a fairly heavy drinker/non-smoker. Also my father was an alcoholic and a non-smoker. My friend is 39 and STILL gets carded sometimes [sub]bitch[/sub]. My father looked young & handsome - right up until he died of liver cancer at age 64.
There is an extremely popular AA group that meets near my home. It draws a very diverse crowd. Some people in look quite young. When I go for a walk, I tend to pass through the crowd that forms on the sidewalk outside and nobody looks too bad.
However, these are people who have stopped drinking, although nearly all of them are smoking.
I agree with your observation (but can’t back up anything with a cite). I tell the medical trainees that the youthful appearance (which I think also includes a relatively full head of hair) is due to the presence of high levels of estrogen. In both sexes, estrogen protects against skin wrinkling, and, in men, estrogen mitigates against male pattern baldness.
Estrogen levels *are * high in drinkers and for at least two reasons: 1. the booze itself often contains so-called phytoestrogens (this was covered recently in another thread) and 2. if the alcohol use has led to severe liver damage, the liver’s ability to break down estrogen is impaired. Estrogen tends to accumulate.