Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is often an underrecognized substance use disorder (SUD) despite its substantial consequences. Over half of US adults (54%) say that someone in their family has struggled with an alcohol use disorder, making it the most prevalent non-tobacco substance use disorder. Yet, only one-third of adults view alcohol addiction as a crisis, compared to over half who see opioids as such.

Treatment for End-Stage Alcoholism

However, previous studies of trends have not assessed underlying causes of deaths that are partially attributable to alcohol use, such as injuries or certain types of cancer. Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased 29.3%, from 137,927 during 2016–2017 to 178,307 during 2020–2021; age-standardized alcohol-related death rates increased from 38.1 to 47.6 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased 26.8%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased 34.7%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701. Rises in alcohol deaths may be attributed to a variety of factors including, in part, increases in drinking and low treatment rates. Alcohol consumption and some indicators of binge drinking have been on the rise in recent years, particularly among some demographic groups. Excessive alcohol consumption is tied to the development of alcohol-related diseases, which can be fatal.

This increase translates to an average of approximately 488 deaths each day from excessive drinking during 2020–2021. These findings are consistent with another recent study that found a larger increase in fully alcohol-attributable death rates among females compared with males (8). Among females, the average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use increased by 15,136 (34.7%), from 43,565 during 2016–2017, to 58,701 during 2020–2021.

1. In 2019, 38% of current drinkers had engaged in heavy episodic drinking, defined as consuming at least 60g of pure alcohol on one or more occasions in the preceding month – roughly equivalent to 4 or 5 glasses of wine, bottles of beer or servings of spirits.
2. This is a comparatively non-threatening level of drinking, which may not always lead to alcohol abuse.
3. At this point, people who have spent years drinking may have developed numerous health and mental conditions in addition to their alcohol abuse.
4. Over the period, the largest overall annual increase occurred between 2019 and 2020, where the rate increased 26%, from 10.4 per 100,000 standard population to 13.1.
5. All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers.

Alcohol poisoning is a dangerous condition that can happen when someone drinks too much alcohol too quickly. When the body is overwhelmed by a toxic amount of alcohol, it can severely affect vital functions. Alcohol poisoning can impair necessary reflexes in your body, particularly the gag reflex—which helps prevent choking on food, liquids, and saliva. An improperly functioning gag reflex significantly increases the risk of choking. These symptoms indicate that alcohol is seriously affecting your body and vital functions like memory and awareness. If you notice someone experiencing these symptoms, it’s important to get them to stop drinking to prevent symptoms from worsening and becoming life-threatening.

Conditions

Age-standardized alcohol-attributable death rates among females increased from 22.7 per 100,000 population during 2016–2017 to 23.6 during 2018–2019, and to 29.4 during 2020–2021. Death rates among females were highest from heart disease and stroke during each period. Among both males and females, alcohol-attributable death rates increased for most cause of death categories. The average number of sex-specific alcohol-attributable deaths increased among all age groups from 2016–2017 to 2020–2021(Figure). The average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use among males increased by 25,244 (26.8%), from 94,362 deaths during 2016–2017 to 119,606 during 2020–2021 (Table 2). Age-standardized death rates among males increased from 54.8 per 100,000 population during 2016–2017 to 55.9 during 2018–2019, and to 66.9 during 2020–2021.

A tool on the CDC website can help individuals evaluate their drinking and then come up with a plan to make healthier alcohol choices. It often helps to have a nonalcoholic drink in your hand at social events, so the offer to have a drink doesn’t even come up, said biological psychologist Aaron White, senior scientific adviser to the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. On an individual level, Esser suggested that people could try to stop or limit alcohol consumption. And people often underreport how much they are drinking, Jernigan said. That’s the highest rate recorded in at least 40 years, said the study’s lead author, Merianne Spencer. “Alcohol is often overlooked” as a public health problem, said Marissa Esser, who leads the CDC’s alcohol program.

In fact, it contributes to about 88,000 deaths annually in the U.S., making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study provides a comprehensive assessment of global health trends. This dataset contains the risk factors that contribute to deaths and DALYs from all causes, cardiovascular diseases, lower respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases and cancers. End-stage alcoholism typically presents a number of health complications. The liver gains fats and inflammation, eventually leading to liver scarring.

Other data mirror this trend – emergency department (ED) visits for SUD are on the rise and account for eco sober house twice the number of ED visits compared to opioids. Alcohol related ED visits account for nearly half of all SUD related visits (45%), far higher than the next highest group, opioids, accounting for 13% of ED visits. It’s a life-threatening, late-stage liver disease that can stop the liver from properly filtering blood.

Among females, those aged 35–44 had the largest percentage increase in death rates from 2019 to 2020.

Examples include alcohol-caused liver or pancreas failure, alcohol poisoning, withdrawal and certain other diseases. There were more than 52,000 such deaths last year, up from 39,000 in 2019. In the end-stages of alcoholism there are noticeable health conditions, like jaundice, from liver failure. There are also more subtle signs like itchy skin, fluid retention, fatigue, and bleeding. If you know someone who drinks regularly and has these symptoms, have them reach out to a treatment provider to discuss their treatment options. Additionally, individuals aged had both the steepest rise in mortality and the highest absolute rates in both 1999 and 2020.

The rate of alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. rose 30% in the first year of COVID

During this 2019–2020 period, males and females each had their largest year-to-year percentage increase over the study period, at 26% and 27%, respectively. For both males and females, rates rose with increasing age and peaked for those aged 55–64 before declining for all age groups 65 and over. Increases in rates from 2019 to 2020 occurred across nearly all age groups. Rates for males were two to four times higher than those for females across all age groups. A study published this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated an annual average of nearly 138,000 people dying from alcohol-related causes, such as motor vehicle crashes, alcohol poisoning, cancer and cirrhosis, based on data from 2016 to 2017.