More Americans are ordering more rounds, which is leading to more funerals, according to new research on alcohol-related deaths. Looking at data beginning with the National Center for Health Statistics, researchers estimate deaths from alcohol-related problems have more than doubled during the last nearly twenty years. Death certificates spanning 2017 indicate nearly 73,000 people died within the U.S because of liver disease along with other alcohol-related illnesses. That is up from slightly below 36,000 deaths in the year 1999. Some of the most significant increases were found among women and individuals who were middle-aged senior.

The study arises from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, which is a section of the NIH. It was published on Wednesday within the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Overall, researchers found men died at a higher rate than women. However, when analyzing annual increases in deaths, the most significant improvement was among white women. “Having the increases in alcohol use among women, there’s been increases in harms for women including ER visits, hospitalization, and deaths,” Aaron White, who authored the paper, told NPR. The studies suggest that in 2017, alcohol proven even more deadly than illicit drugs, including opioids. That year there were about 70,000 drug overdose deaths — about 2,300 fewer than those involving alcohol by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Alcohol: Maybe you have Thought About Reducing?
Only cigarettes are deadlier than alcohol: More than 480,000 people die each year in the U.S. because of smoking-related illnesses. However, alcohol-related overdoses — either alone or with drugs — rose between 1999 and 2017. Other alcohol-related causes included heart disease, cancer, and accidental injuries, for instance, falls. The total number of deaths attributable to drunken driving over the same two decades declined. Other findings, as quoted in the study:

• 70.1% considering the population aged 18 and older. Consumed alcohol in 2017, averaging approximately 3.6 gallons of pure ethanol per drinker.
• As the overall prevalence of drinking and binge drinking didn’t change for males, there arose a 10.1% rise in the incidence of alcohol and a 23.3% rise in drinking a lot among women.
• Increases in consumption were more significant for people aged 50 senior relatives to younger age-groups.

Author Resource Box:
U.S. Alcohol-Related Deaths Have Doubled, Study Says. https://www.npr.org/2020/01/08/794772148/alcohol-related-deaths-have-doubled-study-says