Scientists have proposed two versions of the premature aging hypothesis: the accelerated aging version, which proposes that aging may be accelerated by alcoholism at whatever age alcohol abuse begins, and the increased vulnerability version, which proposes that vulnerability to alcohol-related brain damage is magnified in alcohol-abusing people over age 50 after the normal manifestations of aging begin (Ellis and Oscar-Berman 1989). Thus, according to the accelerated aging version, young alcoholics may become old before their time. And according to the increased vulnerability version, older people who abuse alcohol may suffer proportionately more age-related cognitive changes than their non-alcoholic peers because of their aged brains’ increased vulnerability to alcohol-related damage. To date, the controversy about which version of the premature aging hypothesis is best supported by research is not yet resolved.
