Excessive Drinking Associated with 1 in 10 Adult Deaths

1 in 10 Deaths Among Adults Caused by Alcohol-Related Illness

When you hear about drinking and death, it’s usually because we’re referring to drinking and driving or liver disease from excessive alcohol consumption.  However, most deaths caused by alcohol in adults are linked to a plethora of illnesses including acute pancreatitis, psychosis, several types of cancer, suicide and falling accidents.  In fact, there are 54 different conditions linked to alcoholism.

Binge Drinking Accounts for Over Half of Alcohol-Related Deaths

One of the main problems accounting for alcohol-related deaths is binge drinking, with 51% of all alcohol-related deaths attributable to this reason.  Binge drinking is defined as four or more drinks in one sitting for women and more than five drinks for men.  This also means that someone doesn’t need to be a chronic drinker or alcoholic to suffer consequences of a one or two night binge.  Primarily, this is also because when people binge drink they may engage in dangerous behavior such as attempting to drive a boat or go swimming while inebriated.  Men were also more susceptible to overindulging and therefore had a higher rate of death, with men accounting for 71% of all alcohol-related deaths.

Moderating Drinking Could Prevent 10% of Alcohol-Related Deaths

All of this being said, there is one clear lesson that can be taken from these statistics: moderating your drinking and avoiding alcohol binges can go a long way in preventing alcohol-related deaths.  In fact, if adults practiced these behaviors, it would cut the alcohol-related deaths to 10%.  Drinking, it and of itself, it not bad when it’s done in moderation.  The strong link between binge drinking is an important reminder for all, but is particularly pertinent for places like Michigan State University, where drinking and partying are the norm.  Unfortunately, a “good time” can turn into a deadly time if too much alcohol is consumed.  The recent statistics were derived by the Centers for Disease Control and the study was published in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease.