Alcohol Deaths On The Rise, Yet Focus Is On Opioids

The number of alcohol deaths has been on a sharp rise in the United States. Despite that, it seems like most of our focus, as a country, has been on the opioid addiction crisis. While those stats are not good either, new research shows that steady increase among alcohol-related deaths.

Alcohol Deaths Research

This new research was published by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. This research was first reported by USA Today. For the research, they found that from 2007 to 2017, the number of deaths attributable to alcohol in the U.S. had increased by 35%. Overall, the death rate rose 24%. There are even more shocking results in that research, especially when it comes to gender. Alcohol deaths among men rose 29%. For women, alcohol deaths rose a shocking 85%!

Being Overlooked

Why are these stats being overlooked? One might say it’s because of the opioid addiction crisis affecting this country. This seems to be a new issue, so a lot of effort is being put into it to stop it. While opioids are also generating an alarming number of drug-related fatalities, we can’t forget about alcohol and how it is affecting our country.

Alcohol-Related Health Conditions

One of the factors in this increase is the number of related health conditions that come from drinking. This is how alcohol deaths are measured. Alcohol kills more people every year than any other type of overdose. Why? Because alcohol is linked to pretty much every other major killer, from cancer to suicide. Even in moderate amounts, alcohol consumption is linked to heart disease and diabetes. The IHME tells us that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. Max Griswold, IHME researcher, told USA Today, “The story is that no one has noticed this. It hasn’t really been researched before.”