88,000 Americans die from alcohol consumption

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that one in 10 deaths are linked to excessive drinking among working-age adults in the United States.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The study defines excessive alcohol consumption as binge drinking-five or more drinks for men and four or more drinks for women-heavy weekly alcohol consumption-15 drinks or more for men, 8 or more for women-and any type of alcohol consumption by pregnant women or underage drinkers.

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CDC researchers used a tool to estimate total alcohol-attributable deaths and years of potential life loss in the U.S. from 2006 to 2010. The study included evaluations of 54 different medical conditions, including pancreatitis, epilepsy, hypertension, prostate cancer, and cirrhossis, and determined which ones were related to alcohol consumption.

According to the study, including health issues and accidents, excessive drinking has caused 88,000 deaths per year.

The study proves that alcohol causes many types of death other than the ones we typically associate with excessive drinking, like suicide, drowning, depression and fall injuries.

According to the CDC, excessive drinking shortens drinkers' lives by around 30 years, and may have reduced as many as 2.5 million potential years of living.

The study's most interesting find is the difference between alcohol-attributable deaths between states. New Mexico has the highest, 51 deaths per 100,000 people annually, and New Jersey has the lowest 19 deaths per 100,000 annually.

Researchers believe this variance may be explained by differences in living conditions, religious beliefs and state policies on selling alcohol. Certain living conditions are more likely to encourage alcohol abuse, including long work commutes.

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