An extensive analysis conducted starting from data collected in the National Vital Statistics System of the US CDC has returned a rather worrying picture regarding the alcohol consumption of the inhabitants of the United States: from 1999 to today, deaths related to alcohol consumption have almost doubled, with a particular peak during the Covid pandemic and a notable increase in the deaths of women between the ages of 25 and 34. The details of the analysis have been published on PLOS Global Public Health.
The study. The researchers focused on 14 alcohol-related causes of death, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD). alcohol-associated liver disease), mental and behavioral disorders such as withdrawal syndrome and alcoholic psychosis, and intoxication.
The analysis found that between 1999 and 2024, alcohol-related deaths in the United States increased by 89%: the majority of deaths were due to ALD and, to a lesser extent, mental and behavioral disorders.
The role of covid. The largest peak was recorded in 2021, when over 54,000 Americans died: at the time we were behind (and still experiencing) harsh lockdowns due to the covid pandemic, and many people who were already suffering from alcohol-related disorders had difficulty accessing treatments. In 2024, the number of deaths fell, but still remained about 25% higher than the pre-pandemic period.
Young women and Native Americans. The most affected US populations would be those of the continental Native Americans and the native inhabitants of Alaska (called AIAN in English, from American Indian/Alaska Native): alcohol-related mortality among AIAN men was three times higher than that of white males, and that of AIAN women was four times higher than that of white women.
Another category in the spotlight due to the surge in deaths is that of women aged between 25 and 34 years of age: in this case alcohol-related deaths would have gone from 0.9/100,000 in 1999 to 3.2/100,000 in 2024 – marking a growth of 255%. Alcohol-related deaths among men in the same age group also increased, from 2.3/100,000 in 1999 to 6.5/100,000 in 2024 (an increase of 188%).
Although frightening, these numbers are probably on the low side, since the analysis did not take into account deaths linked to chronic diseases caused by alcohol consumption, such as some tumors or cardiovascular events.
