Alcohol Related Deaths

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Drinking alcohol in an abusive, irresponsible, and excessive way can result in a not so insignificant number of alcohol related deaths. 

Sadly, in spite of the fact that people have known about the damaging consequences of abusive and hazardous drinking for many hundreds of years, people throughout the world continue to experience serious health problems and, in some instances, alcohol related deaths.

Obvious Alcohol Related Deaths 

image: binge drinking can result in alcohol related deaths from an overdose There are more than a few apparent alcohol related deaths and scores of less instantly recognizable alcohol related deaths. 

Conceivably the most incontrovertible alcohol related deaths concern the following: untimely deaths from chronic alcoholism, terminal alcohol overdose, alcohol-related traffic deaths, loss of life from severe alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and the lost of life of children due to severe fetal alcohol syndrome and other fatal birth defects. 

Let us be clear. Alcohol related deaths are the result of abusive drinking, chronic alcohol abuse, and/or alcoholism.  In other words, repetitive and excessive drinking has consequences and in far too many instances, these outcomes are associated with a premature loss of life.

Less Obvious Alcohol Related Deaths

Some less apparent alcohol related deaths happen in the home via wife battering, child abuse, and homicide; in the workplace via alcohol-related injuries and accidents and homicides; and in society in general via homicide and suicide.

image: female ad for drug and alcohol therapy

Alcohol Related Deaths. Research shows that mixing drinking with boating or swimming can result in alcohol related deaths.  Indeed, according to research, for every 10 teens who drown, four of them will have been drinking alcohol.

Alcohol Related Deaths From Cancer

image: male teenager in misery from alcoholism Alcohol related deaths also arise from diverse forms of cancer that are directly or indirectly caused by excessive and abusive drinking alcoholic beverages. 

Some of the more conventional types of cancer that are alcohol-related and that generally lead to death consist of the following:

  • Cancer of the larynx
  • Rectal cancer
  • Cancer of the throat
  • Cancer of the stomach
  • Colon cancer
  • Liver cancer
  • Kidney cancer
  • Cancer of the esophagus
According to the research literature, alcohol is linked with an estimated 5,000 deaths in people under age 21 each year--more than all the illegal drugs combined.

Alcohol Related Deaths From Non-Cancerous Medical Problems

The following is a list non-cancerous illnesses, medical conditions health problems that are alcohol-related and that regularly lead to the loss of life:

  • Cardiovascular obstacles such as strokes and heart failure
  • Infections
  • Cirrhosis of the liver
  • Brain damage
  • Ulcers from the perforation of the intestines and the stomach
  • Organ and system malfunction
  • Pneumonia
  • Urinary tract and Kidney infections
  • Malnutrition
  • Kidney failure
  • Diabetes
  • Alcohol-induced coma
  • Pancreatitis

About 100,000 alcohol related deaths a year can be wholly or partially attributed to drinking, and alcoholism reduces life expectancy by 10 to 12 years. Next to smoking, it is the most common preventable cause of death in America. Although studies indicate that adults who drink moderately (about one drink a day) have a lower mortality rate than their non-drinking peers, their risk for untimely death increases with heavier drinking.

Alcohol Related Deaths:  Conclusion

image: man in agony from alcoholism A review of the medical research literature reveals quite a few alcohol related deaths from a variety of obvious and some not so self-evident sources. 

But one thing is clear: alcohol related deaths happen because of abusive and hazardous drinking, chronic alcohol abuse, and/or alcohol dependency.

Some of the more incontrovertible ways in which individuals lose their lives from excessive and abusive drinking alcohol entail homicides, suicides, chronic alcohol addiction, fatal alcohol withdrawal symptoms, traffic deaths, alcohol poisoning, and from diverse alcohol-related birth defects like fetal alcohol syndrome.

Other moderately incontrovertible alcohol related deaths occur from numerous sorts of cancer. Illustrations of less apparent alcohol related deaths arise from non-cancerous, alcohol-related physical and mental health problems, medical conditions, and illnesses such as organ failure, pancreatitis, brain damage, strokes, alcohol-induced coma, and heart failure.

image: doctor checking test results for chronic alcoholic It looks as if approximately every year medical research is uncovering another illness or mental and physical condition that is caused either directly or indirectly from chronic alcoholism.

Unfortunately, several of these alcohol-related medical challenges and issues have resulted in the unforeseen deaths of countless numbers of people.

One would suppose that access to this information would substantially decrease the number of people who become alcoholics. Unfortunately, the medical and alcohol dependency death statistics do not corroborate this claim.

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To most people, binge drinking brings to mind a self-destructive and unrestrained drinking bout lasting for at least a couple of days during which time the heavily intoxicated drinker "drops out" by refusing to work, ignoring responsibilities, wasting money, and engaging in other harmful behaviors such as violence or risky sex.  No matter how binge drinking is perceived, however, it must be emphasized that alcohol related deaths can and do result from binge drinking.

Here's a shocking alcohol related death statistic. In the United States, roughly 75% of all deaths among persons between the ages of 10 and 24 years old result from the following four causes: suicide, homicide, motor-vehicle accidents, and other unintentional injuries.  Results from the 1999 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey, moreover, demonstrate that numerous high school students engage in behaviors, such as alcohol abuse and illicit drug use, that increase their likelihood of death from these four causes.

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