European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Who is a problem Drinker begin Okolata new York times by what standards should society judge whether someone is a problem Drinker that Issue arose As senators considered How seriously to take rumours that John Tower the nominee for defense Secretary has a drinking problem and when gov. Michael Dukakis said that his wife Kitty had entered an alcoholic treatment program. The question of whether someone drinks too much is not easy to resolve experts say because the line Between drinking and problem drinking is Ever shifting and Blurry. In Tower s Case the problem is complicated by political factors. The machinations of the Washington Rumor Mill Are always open to interpretation. Paul m. Weyrich the conservative activist is the Only person to go on record during Tower s confirmation hearings to accuse him of Public drunkenness. He disagrees with some of the nominee s stands on defense issues. But even from a medical standpoint problem drinking is hard to define. What is considered heavy drinking today was More widely acceptable in the 1950s and 1960s, and was the Norm in colonial times when men in particular got drunk every Day. Alcohol consumption in the United states has been declining every year since 1982, As heavy drinking has become less and less acceptable. But at the same time More and More americans Are entering alcohol treatment and Are claiming that they Are dependent on alcohol said or. Thomas f. Babor an alcoholism expert and professor of psychiatry at the University of Connecticut. Babor said he thinks that the growth in alcohol treatment arose because society s definition of problem drinking has changed not because More people Are suddenly becoming alcoholics. Frederick s. Stinson of car inc. Of Washington who analyses sales of alcoholic beverages for the National Institute on alcohol abuse and alcoholism said that 5.7 billion Gallons of Beer the equivalent of about 60 billion cans were sold in the United states in 1986, the most recent year for which data Are available. The average annual consumption of alcohol is 2.58 Gallons of pure alcohol for every person aged 14 and older in the nation. This translates to 5 Gallons of whiskey or 50 Gallons of Beer Stinson said. The definition of alcoholism has always been very Loose Babor said. He added that the medical definition of alcoholism focuses on alcohol dependency meaning that a person has increased tolerance for alcohol develops withdrawal symptoms if he or she stops drinking and craves alcohol. But Babor said the popular definition of alcoholism is very ambiguous. Some people include anyone with a drinking problem that has social consequences for the  heavy drinking is very much socially defined said Herbert Fingarette a professor of philosophy at the University of California at Santa Barbara and the author of heavy drinking the myth of alcoholism As a disease a Book published last year. For some heavy drinking is a couple of drinks a Day he said. For others seven drinks a Day is moderate  he added that some studies on alcoholism have actually defined moderate drinking As seven or fewer drinks a Day. Books and movies from the 1950s and 1960s often showed men getting drunk regularly on social occasions indulging in three Martini lunches and ending each Day with a cocktail hour. That sort of drinking was Macho said Paul Sherman president of Paul Sherman and associates a consulting firm in Rye n.y., that helps companies Deal with executives who have alcohol and drug problems. Now Sherman said there has been a shift toward less tolerance of regular drinking and of inebriation. Babor said he suspects that the move against alcohol has its basis in the growing fear of Drunken driving. There definitely have been changes in Public attitudes about the acceptability of heavy drinking Babor said. But the interesting thing is that if you go Back to the Early history of american drinking you see the same kinds of variations in  Babor said that the colonists consumed rum and cider in such quantities that they got drunk every Day. Society did not condemn such heavy drinking until the Industrial revolution in the 1830s and 1840s, Babor said when there was a concern to sober up the work  at the same time he added a religious revival depicted drinking As evil. The Temperance movement grew until the country passed Laws prohibiting alcohol in 1920. After 1933, when prohibition was repealed heavy drinking became acceptable again and people drank More every year until 1982, when alcohol consumption reached its Peak. In the end said Fingarette the question of whether someone is an alcoholic is a false  the real question he said is How much and How often does this person drink and when he does drink does this go along with problems in his Job or with his family the observation that a person has become drunk on several occasions does not necessarily signal trouble Fingarette said. Some people can drink very heavily and get into no trouble whatsoever he said. File photo heavy drinking has become less acceptable and alcohol consumption has been declining. Following repeal of prohibition in 1933, americans flocked to bars and liquor stores. Heavy drinking once again became acceptable. Kills Page 16 the stars and stripes by Peg Byron United press International forgetting things is Normal but anxiety about forgetfulness sometimes is a painful problem for people above or approaching the age of 65. That s the myth of senility that if you get older you will get senile says a specialist in memory skills for older adults. Everyone knows somebody a grandmother or an aunt who actually did have some form of dementia or stroke but those people Are a very Small percent of the population. The changes usually Are not major. There Are changes but not like being demented says the specialist Lynn Stern a senior social worker at the Turner geriatric clinic in Ann Arbor Mich. The memory glitches people May notice As they get older Are Seldom signs of irreversible neurological tuesday february 21,1989 problems like the Onset of alzheimer s disease. Experts attribute most minor memory lapses to combinations of events that often coincide with old age including external events that cause depression or distractions. The brain shrinks with age and constantly loses neurons or nerve cells. This process occurs throughout life but does take a toll. Size changes usually Are seen after the age of 80, notes or. Bernard Agranoff professor of biochemistry and psychology at the University of Michigan. A lot of what is perceived As memory loss actually is a slowing Down As a result of these things. Given enough time older people perform almost As Well As Young people on memory tests said Agranoff who is also director of the mental health research Institute. And for reasons not yet understood older people have More trouble making new memories while older