CDC study reveals middle-aged adults more likely to fatally overdose

NAPLES, Fla. The rate of fatal drug overdoses in the U.S. has more than doubled since 1999, outpacing suicide and car accidents in 2015 as a cause of death, according to a new report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, substance abuse isn’t reserved for just teenagers and young adults.

While people in all age groups were more at risk for dying from drug overdoses, middle-aged adults were the most likely to suffer a fatal overdose, the report said.

Brenda Iliff, executive director of Hazelden, a Naples-based addiction center, says more than half of her clients are over the age of 50.

“People who are 55 to 64…their overdoses have increased five times since the year 2000. That’s a huge increase and that clock is ticking up very fast,” she said.

Many of the overdoses involve opioids, which cause sudden respiratory failure.

But people who are 40 and older also have increased access to other drugs, Iliff said, such as pain, anxiety or sleeping medicines that can be detrimental with a changing metabolism.

“As we age, our gastrointestinal system slows down, our kidneys slow down, our liver slows down, our brain doesn’t adapt as well — so we can have the same amount of alcohol or drugs we’ve had all our life with double the effect, or overdose,” Iliff said.

Iliff warns substance abuse can mimic medical side effects in older adults, so it’s important to speak with family members about their medication.