Effective treatment options for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low. The proportion of people in contact with substance use treatment services ranged from less than 1% to no more than 35% in 2019, in countries providing this data. The highest proportion (13%) of alcohol-attributable deaths in 2019 were among young people aged 20–39 years. The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders. The rise of home delivery services for alcohol enabled people to avoid stepping outside and possibly getting sick, but also further isolated them, Siegel said.
Deaths due to alcohol use
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. It’s also a risk to others through drunken driving or alcohol-fueled violence. Surveys suggest that more than half the alcohol sold in the U.S. is consumed during binge drinking episodes. NEW YORK — The rate of deaths that can be directly attributed to alcohol rose nearly 30% in the U.S. during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to new government data.
Because of the increases in these deaths during 2020–2021, including among adults in the same age group, excessive alcohol use could account for an even higher proportion of total deaths during that 2-year period. Researchers took national and state mortality data from 2015 to 2019 and looked at deaths either fully or partially attributable to excessive drinking. Those causes of death included vehicle accidents, alcohol poisoning and other health impacts, such as liver disease, Esser said. Alcohol use is a known risk factor for mortality, and the rates of alcohol-induced deaths have risen over the past several years (1). 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.
Health consequences of alcohol consumption
If you or someone you know has any of the above symptoms, seeking medical care urgently is essential. The CDC also estimates that 1 in 6 adults binge drink — defined as consuming four or more drinks on an occasion for a woman or five or more drinks on an occasion for a man — with a quarter of those doing so at least weekly. For health and safety, Jernigan said the goal for state and local government agencies should be encouraging almost everyone to drink less. A heavy drinker may drink more frequently or drink excessive amounts when drinking socially. Total alcohol per capita consumption in the world population decreased slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010 to 5.5 litres in 2019.
Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021
Typically, an individual reaches end-stage alcoholism after years of alcohol abuse. At this point, people who have spent years drinking may have developed numerous health and mental conditions in addition to their alcohol abuse. Major organ damage and failure often occur during this time, as well as interpersonal consequences like isolation and job loss. In the United States and globally, alcohol consumption is a major cause of preventable death and celebrities with fetal alcohol syndrome disability and increases liver disease, mental health disorders and accidents.
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. People under 21, the legal age limit to drink alcohol in the U.S., have a higher risk of dying from binge drinking or other risky behaviors.
Even brain damage and hepatitis can occur in the end-stage of alcoholism. The report shows an estimated 400 million people lived with alcohol use disorders globally. Rural areas experienced faster growth in alcohol deaths than urban areas, driven by sharp rises during the pandemic. Deaths grew across both rural and urban areas in the past decade; however growth was fastest in rural areas–nearly doubling in the past decade and increasing by 35% during pandemic years. Existing shortages of mental health and substance use treatment professionals may make it particularly difficult to access care in rural areas, where the supply of behavioral health workforce is even more scarce. During the pandemic, telehealth services for behavioral health and other care may have been more accessible to those living in urban areas, where an internet connection is more likely to be available or reliable (Figure 5).
- 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.
- The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study provides a comprehensive assessment of global health trends.
- Contact a treatment provider today to learn about the many types of treatment options available to you.
- “Both globally and in the U.S., high levels of alcohol consumption are closely linked to premature deaths and disability,” said Hennekens.
Despite the reason, patterns of heavy drinking can result in dangerous, life-threatening complications. When a person has developed an alcohol use disorder (AUD), they begin to exhibit a variety of behaviors that have a negative impact on their health and personal and professional lives. This is a comparatively non-threatening level of drinking, which may not always lead to alcohol abuse.