Heavy drinkers face increased muscle weakness

Heavy drinkers face increased muscle weakness: study : "'So if we take say, the muscles in the leg for example, when you go to walk and pull your foot up, you don't pull your foot up as far as you think you're going to, so you're more prone to tripping,' he said."

All sorts of things drive people to drinking too much. Sometimes it's the lifestyle expectation. Sometimes it is grief and loss and sometimes it's a carry over habit in terms of problem solving which just worsens. I haven't met someone who drinks a lot who actually wants to be like that. They like a drink. They relax when they drink, but the rest of it can cause a lot of worry and trauma. Oddly enough, one of the best ways of picking someone who drinks too much and isn't managing is the fact they seem to get injuries especially on their face...because they fall over and they fall into things. The muscle weakness now explains that better and also explains why a lot of people who had better than normal strength suddenly feel like they have no strength. We have been observing this for a long time...now we know why and I think the muscle weakness is a good indicator of when we should act to try and get help to these people. Before that , they can get away with it, I suppose, but once they start tripping and falling, it's a sign they are coming undone and need recognition of the fact they are not coping. Not that they are easy to help, but I have found Australia to be particularly good at finding the work arounds for health issues once they know the causes. The support is very practical and non judgemental and those are the keystones of sound and effective treatment plans and programmes.