Alcohol use in the United States increased during the first year of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected mortality rates, especially for alcohol-induced deaths (2). Understanding trends in alcohol-induced mortality, with a particular focus on differences from 2019 to 2020, may help identify groups particularly affected during the COVID-19 pandemic. This report presents overall and sex-specific trends in alcohol-induced death rates from 2000 to 2020, and then focuses on the rates for 2019 and 2020 by sex, age group, and underlying cause of death. Rural areas experienced faster growth in alcohol deaths than urban areas, driven by sharp rises during the pandemic.
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Adam Sherk reports institutional support from the Canadian Cancer Society and Canadian Institutes for Health Research. According to research, more men die from alcohol-related death than women. But women are more likely to experience domestic abuse or sexual assault when alcohol is involved. Men are twice as likely to develop cirrhosis and four times as likely to develop liver cancer. Once you quit drinking, your body can begin to recover from some of the damage or, at the very least, prevent it from getting worse.
Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021
For example, among those who meet the criteria for SUD—which may include symptoms like increased tolerance, repeated attempts to quit or control use, or social problems related to use–95% of adults did not seek treatment and didn’t think they needed it. Initiatives aimed at early screening in non-traditional settings, such as schools may help early detection and lead to more timely linkages of individuals to treatment resources. Federal survey data show that in na vs aa 2022, only 7.6% of people (12+) with a past year alcohol use disorder received any treatment. Although medications for alcohol use disorder have been shown to reduce or stop drinking, uptake of these medications is extremely low; with only 2.1% of people who meet criteria for an alcohol use disorder (diagnosed or not) receive medication treatment.
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- There were more than 52,000 such deaths last year, up from 39,000 in 2019.
- Alcohol use in the United States increased during the first year of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which may have affected mortality rates, especially for alcohol-induced deaths (2).
- Some conditions may have had alcohol as a factor, but researchers were not able to verify for sure the role that drinking played.
- This includes driving under the influence, injuries, sexual assault, or violence.
They include deaths where the primary (or underlying) cause of death listed on the death certificate was one of 58 alcohol-related causes. The CDC defines moderate drinking as two drinks or less in a day for men or one drink or less in a day for women. Two-thirds of adults report drinking more than moderate amounts at least once a month, the organization added. “States and communities can prevent these premature deaths using evidence-based strategies to reduce the availability and accessibility of alcohol and increase its price,” Esser said. The percentage of deaths attributed to alcohol use varied state by state, but nationally it’s a leading cause of preventable death, said lead study author Dr. Marissa Esser, lwho leads the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s alcohol program.
About this data
By the time a person is in end-stage alcoholism, there can be no denying that drinking has taken over their life and damaged their health. Now is the time to line up support from addiction specialists, mental health professionals, friends and family, and others living with an alcohol use disorder. Objective To estimate the mean annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use relative to total deaths among adults aged 20 to 64 years overall; by sex, age group, and state; and as a proportion of total deaths. “Stress, loneliness, and social isolation; and mental health conditions might also have contributed to the increase in deaths from excessive alcohol use during the Covid-19 pandemic,” the report said.
There are things you can do to lower the risk of alcohol-related deaths. According to the American Dietary Guidelines, moderate alcohol intake includes two drinks or less in a day for men or one drink or less in a day for women. So it’s your liver’s job to detoxify and remove alcohol from your blood.
Evidence-based alcohol policies (e.g., reducing the number and concentration of places selling alcohol and increasing alcohol taxes) could help reverse increasing alcohol-attributable death rates. Thousands of people suffer from methanol poisoning every year, with most cases reported in Asia from people drinking bootlegged liquor or homemade alcohol. Many Southeast Asian nations have low safety standards, patchy regulatory enforcement and high levels of police corruption. Esser said there were deaths that alcohol likely contributed to that the study’s researchers could not include in their estimates.