
Alcohol is causing more deaths than drug overdoses
BEACON TRANSCRIPT – Causes of death can be various – from accidents or health problems to drug overdoses but it looks like alcohol is killing Americans at high rate.
News in health are mostly about different diseases which can be fatal such as cancer or cardiovascular problems but being killed by alcohol is a whole different story. At least in some cases it is more difficult for us to take control over our bodies and the disease but when it comes to alcohol we can definitely take control.
Of course, for alcoholics it is indeed harder to do this and they need assistance and support both professional and from family and friends. But if you’re not an alcoholic and you simply refuse to control yourself when it comes to drinking, then you might be having a whole other problem.
According to federal data, ever since 35 years ago and up until now, there hasn’t been such a high rate of alcohol-induced deaths. For example in 2014 from 100,000 people, 9,6 would die from alcohol. The number has increased by 37 percent since 2002.
The number is also higher than the number of deaths caused by drug overdose by almost 2,000. The data used excludes all deaths which were indirectly caused by alcohol, such as DUI accidents or homicides committed by people who were drunk. You might be wondering how come alcohol is more dangerous than drugs. Well, theoretically, it isn’t. The problem is that compared to drugs, alcohol is legal and cheaper which means people feel free to buy and consume it, some in too large quantities.
The reason behind the increase of deaths cause by alcohol is actually pretty simple: more people are drinking more. This was shown by the fact that per-capita consumption has increased a lot since the end of the 1990s.
Another study showed that 10 percent of adults in America consume an average of 74 drinks a week. Indeed, one or two drinks a day could actually have positive effects on your health, but even a bit more than that can cause severe problems. Therefore, you should be careful about how much you drink especially since the holiday season announces many parties where drinks are almost unlimited.
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