Epidemiologists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism last month reported a jarring trend: Problem drinking is rising fast among older Americans. Data from a national survey taken in 2001 and 2002 and again in 2012 and 2013 found that over the two periods there was a 22 percent increase in the drinking rate for those who were over the age of 65; the greatest rise in any age group.