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Official figures showed alcohol-related hospital admissions among those aged 45 and over have more than doubled in the past decade.
Among those in their 60s, admissions have almost tripled.
Figures released by the Government's Health and Social Care Information Centre reveal alcohol-related admissions for those of the age of 45 have doubled in the last decade. File picture
The increase is much lower among young adults, indicating that liver disease and alcoholism are much bigger problems among the middle-aged than previously thought.
Data from the Government’s Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that in 2012/13, a total of 26,209 men and 12,461 women aged 45 to 49 ended up in hospital purely due to alcohol.
This was the highest total for any five-year age group.
But the statistics reveal that the greatest increase in hospital treatment for alcohol problems over the past decade was among those in their 60s.
During that period there was a 178 per cent rise in admissions of men aged 65 to 69 and a 177 per cent increase in admissions for women aged 60 to 64.
Admissions more than doubled for every age group over 45.
Experts said this was the cumulative effect of life-long drinking by the baby-boomer generation who felt liberated from societal constraints in the 1960s and 1970s.
But they added that many older people are drinking too much now.
In contrast, the smallest rises among adults in the past ten years were seen among those in their 30s – perhaps because this is the age at which many people settle down and have children.
Eric Appleby, of charity Alcohol Concern, said: ‘Too many of us of all ages are drinking too much too often and risking our health because of it.
‘It’s easy to think that this is just a problem for binge-drinking youngsters but Alcohol Concern’s harm map shows that it’s the middle-aged, and often middle-class drinkers, regularly drinking above recommended limits, who are actually requiring complex and expensive NHS care.
'We have to wake up to the scale of the problem across the whole of society if we’re to reverse these frightening statistics.’
Julia Manning, of the 2020 Health think tank, said: 'There is often a focus on binge drinking amongst the young but these figures show that older people need to take a look at their drinking'
Julia Manning, of the 2020 Health think tank, said: ‘There is often a focus on binge drinking amongst the young but these figures show that older people need to take a look at their drinking. Middle-aged, middle-class drinkers are drinking much more than they realise.
‘They are drinking more frequently, they are drinking stronger alcohol and they are using it as a common antidote for stress. Alcohol has also become much cheaper in real terms.’
She added: ‘We have become ever more rebellious in recent decades and it makes me wonder whether there has been a significant culture shift away from taking responsibility and behaving like a grown-up.’
The figures show there has also been a significant surge in alcohol-related hospital admissions among women in their 20s.
In the past ten years, there was a 111 per cent increase in admissions for women aged 20 to 24, and a 124 per cent rise among those aged 25 to 29.
More than 10,600 women in their 20s were admitted for alcohol problems in 2012/13. The figures are likely to spark fresh fears of a rising ‘ladette culture’.
Though there was an increase among men in their 20s it was not as stark – just over 80 per cent.
Worryingly, there was a 36 per cent rise in alcohol-related hospital cases among girls aged 15 to 19 and an 8 per cent rise for boys. But the number of admissions for youngsters aged 14 and under has fallen.
Separate analysis shows that since 1970, deaths from liver disease have risen five-fold among the under-65s. Mortality from every other major disease has fallen.
Dr Nick Sheron, a liver specialist at the University of Southampton, said: ‘What we are seeing is really dramatic and absolutely tragic.
‘Society’s relationship with alcohol has changed fundamentally in the past few decades … and this is the impact of it.’
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