These are some scary numbers. Between 2015 and 2019, more than 140,000 people in the United States died of excessive drinking each year, usually involving adult men over the age of 35. That’s more than 380 deaths per day.
The main reason is due to the health effects of excessive alcohol consumption over time, such as various types of cancer, liver disease, and heart disease.
But these are not unpreventable, and everyone can contribute to preventing excessive drinking. Adults of legal drinking age are advised to choose not to drink alcohol, or to drink in moderation, with men consuming 2 or fewer drinks per day. In short, don't drink too much yourself and help others drink less.
Each year, deaths from excessive drinking:
Shortened the lives of those who died by an average of 26 years, for a total of nearly 3.6 million years of potential life lost.
Usually involved adults aged 35 or older and males.
Were mostly due to health effects from drinking too much over time, such as various types of cancer, liver disease, and heart disease.
Led to premature deaths. Deaths from drinking too much in a short time (from causes such as motor vehicle crashes, poisonings involving substances in addition to alcohol, and suicides) accounted for more than half of the years of potential life lost.
Regularly drinking more than 14 units of alcohol per week can damage your health. The number of units in a drink depends on the size of the drink and the alcohol concentration. In recent years, new evidence has emerged about the harmful effects of regular alcohol consumption on health. There is now a better understanding of the link between alcohol consumption and a number of diseases, including a range of cancers. The previous belief that a certain amount of alcohol was good for the heart has been revised. The evidence for a protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption is now thought to be less strong than previously believed.
