• Posted November 19, 2024

U.S. Alcohol-Linked Deaths Doubled in 20 Years

Alcohol-related deaths have surged in the United States, nearly doubling over 20 years, and a growing number of victims are women, a new study warns.

"Our study found significant gender differences in alcohol-related [death rates]," said senior author Yiota Kitsantas, head of population health and social medicine at the Florida Atlantic University (FAU) College of Medicine. "While men had higher overall death rates, women experienced a larger relative increase, which may reflect changing social norms and the alcohol industry's increased targeting of women through marketing campaigns."

For the study, she and her colleagues looked at U.S. government data from 1999 to 2020. 

Over that period, the rate of alcohol-related deaths nearly doubled -- from 10.7 per 100,000 to 21.6 per 100,000.

In raw numbers, alcohol-related deaths spiked from 19,356 to 48,870. While numbers were up in every age group, there was a nearly fourfold spike among 25- to 34-year-olds. 

Researchers said their findings, published recently in the American Journal of Medicine, point to significant health challenges that may require targeted interventions. Obesity, diabetes and liver damage complicate these challenges, boosting alcohol-related death rates, they added.

Study co-author Dr. Charles Hennekens said health care providers should recognize that heavy drinking is a leading risk factor for early death, heart attack and stroke. 

A professor at FAU College of Medicine, he added that screening for alcohol use in primary care settings is a must.

"Both globally and in the U.S., high levels of alcohol consumption are closely linked to premature deaths and disability," he said in a meeting news release. "One immediate effect of alcohol is liver damage, and in the U.S., the rising rates of obesity and diabetes also contribute to early liver damage."

Over the study period, men and women between the ages of 55 and 64 had the steepest increase in death rates. 

Men had the highest rates of alcohol-related deaths in both 1999 and 2020. But women's death rates had a stunning rise in proportion, from 4.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 in 2020.

Asians and Pacific Islanders saw their deaths more than double over the period (up 2.4 times), as did people in the Midwest (2.5), followed by the Northeast, West and South. 

Researchers noted that alcohol use and health effects vary significantly around the world. 

They reported that Latvia had the highest annual per capital consumption in 2019 at 13.2 liters, followed by France at 12.2 and the U.S. at 10.

Lativa also ranked No. 3 for total deaths. Despite its high alcohol use, France had low heart-related death rates but high rates of liver disease.  

Underscoring the tie between alcohol use, premature death and disease, researchers noted in contrast that Russian men drink a lot and have higher rates of heart-related death. 

"The difference between consuming small amounts of alcohol daily and larger amounts could be the difference between preventing and causing premature death," Hennekens said.

More information

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has more information about the health effects of alcohol use.

SOURCE: Florida Atlantic University, news release, Nov. 18, 2024