Alcohol-Related Deaths Have Soared During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The pandemic and its attendant anxiety, boredom, and loneliness have not been good for people who struggle with alcohol use. According to a new study published in JAMA Network Open, alcohol-related deaths among U.S adults ages 25 and up increased 25% in 2020, and 22% in 2021, compared to average annual deaths from 2012 to 2019. Led by Dr. Yee Hui Yeo, an internal medicine physician at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, the study relied on a massive database maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention (CDC) that registers nearly all deaths in the U.S. and their causes. From 2012 to 2019, about 11 to 15 annual U.S. deaths per 100,000, among adults who were at least 25 years old, were caused by alcohol-use disorder (AUD). But during 2020, that number rose to an average of 19 deaths per 100,000; in 2021, it was 20. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Not all groups were affected equally. Men and women were similar in alcohol-related mortality, with both showing a 25% increase in 2020. Age was a much more significant factor. Far and away, the hardest-hit age group was the youngest measured—25 to 44 year olds—among whom deaths rose by 40% in 2020 and 33% in 2021. In the 45-64 year old age group, deaths increased 22% and 17%, respectively; for those 65 and older, the increased mortality rates were 17% and 22%. Isolation, stress, and the accompanying urge to self-medicate with alcohol were not the only reasons the researchers be...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news