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Quick Stats
General Information on Alcohol Use and Health
There are approximately
79,000 deaths attributable to excessive alcohol
use each year in the United States.1 This makes excessive alcohol use the
3rd leading lifestyle-related cause of death for the nation.2 In the
single year 2005, there were over
1.6 million hospitalizations3 and over 4
million emergency room visits4 for alcohol-related conditions.
The Standard Measure of Alcohol
In the United States, a standard drink is any drink that contains
0.6 ounces (13.7 grams or 1.2 tablespoons) of pure alcohol. Generally,
this amount of pure alcohol is found in
- 12-ounces of regular beer or wine cooler.
- 8-ounces of malt liquor.
- 5-ounces of wine.
- 1.5-ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor (e.g., gin, rum,
vodka, whiskey).
Definitions of Patterns of Drinking Alcohol
- Binge drinking
- For women, 4 or more drinks during a single occasion.
- For men, 5 or more drinks during a single occasion.
- Heavy drinking
- For women, more than 1 drink per day on average.
- For men, more than 2 drinks per day on average.
Excessive drinking includes heavy drinking, binge drinking
or both.
Most people who binge drink are not alcoholics or alcohol dependent.5
According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, if you drink alcoholic beverages,
do so in moderation, which is defined as no more than 1 drink per day for women and no
more than 2 drinks per day for men.6 However, there are some persons who
should not drink any alcohol, including those who are
- Pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
- Taking prescription or over-the-counter medications that may cause
harmful reactions when mixed with alcohol.
- Under the age of 21.
- Recovering from alcoholism or are unable to control the amount they
drink.
- Suffering from a medical condition that may be worsened by alcohol.
- Driving, planning to drive, or participating in other activities
requiring skill, coordination, and alertness.
Immediate Health Risks
Excessive alcohol use has immediate effects that increase the risk of many
harmful health conditions. These immediate effects are most often the result
of binge drinking and include the following:
- Unintentional injuries, including
traffic injuries, falls, drownings, burns and unintentional firearm
injuries.7
- Violence, including intimate partner violence and child maltreatment. About
35% of victims
report that offenders are under the influence of alcohol.8 Alcohol
use is also associated with 2 out of 3 incidents of intimate partner
violence.8 Studies have also shown that alcohol is a leading
factor in child maltreatment and neglect cases, and is the most frequent
substance abused among these parents.9
- Risky
sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex, sex with multiple partners,
and increased risk of sexual assault. These behaviors can result in
unintended pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases.10,11
- Miscarriage and stillbirth among pregnant women, and a combination
of physical and mental birth defects among children that last throughout
life.12,13
- Alcohol poisoning, a medical emergency that results from high blood
alcohol levels that suppress the central nervous system and can cause
loss of consciousness, low blood pressure and body temperature, coma,
respiratory depression, or death.14
Long-Term Health Risks
Over time, excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic
diseases, neurological impairments and social problems. These include but
are not limited to:
- Neurological problems, including dementia, stroke and neuropathy.15,16
- Cardiovascular problems, including myocardial infarction,
cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation and hypertension.17
- Psychiatric problems, including depression, anxiety, and suicide.18
- Social problems, including unemployment, lost productivity, and
family problems.19,20
- Cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, colon, and breast.21
- In general, the risk of cancer increases with increasing amounts of
alcohol.
- Liver diseases, including:
- Alcoholic hepatitis.
- Cirrhosis, which is among the 15 leading causes of all deaths in
the United States.22
- Among persons with Hepatitis C virus, worsening of liver
function and interference with medications used to treat this
condition.23
- Other gastrointestinal problems, including pancreatitis and
gastritis.24,25
References
- Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC). Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI). Atlanta,
GA: CDC. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/ardi.htm.
Accessed March 28, 2008.
- Mokdad AH, Marks JS, Stroup DF, Gerberding JL.
Actual causes of death in the United States, 2000. JAMA 2004; 291(10):1238–1245.
- Chen CM, Yi H. Trends in
alcohol-related morbidity among short-stay community hospital
discharges, United States, 1979-2005. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes
of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. NIAAA
Surveillance Report #80, 2007. Available at
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/surveillance80/HDS05.pdf
(PDF). Accessed March 28, 2008.
- McCaig LF, Burt CW.
National Hospital
Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2003 emergency department summary
(PDF-875K). Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics; No 358.
Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics; 2005.
- Dawson DA, Grant BF, LI T-K.
Quantifying the risks associated with exceeding recommended drinking
limits. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 2005;29:902–908.
- United States Department of
Agriculture and United States Department of Health and Human Services.
In: Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Chapter 9—Alcoholic Beverages.
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office; 2005, p. 43–46. Available
at
http://www.health.gov/DIETARYGUIDELINES/dga2005/document/html/chapter9.htm.
Accessed March 28, 2008.
- Smith GS, Branas CC, Miller TR.
Fatal nontraffic injuries involving alcohol: a metaanalysis. Ann
of Emer Med 1999;33(6):659–668.
- Greenfield LA. Alcohol and
crime: An analysis of national data on the prevalence of alcohol
involvement in crime. Report prepared for the Assistant Attorney
General’s National Symposium on Alcohol Abuse and Crime. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Justice, 1998. Available at
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/ac.pdf
(PDF). Accessed March 31, 2008.
- The National Center on
Addition and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, 1999. No safe
haven: Children of substance-abusing parents. Available at
http://www.casacolumbia.org/Absolutenm/articlefiles/No_Safe_Haven_1_11_99.pdf*
(PDF). Accessed March 31, 2008.
- Naimi TS, Lipscomb LE, Brewer RD, Colley BG.
Binge drinking in the
preconception period and the risk of unintended pregnancy: Implications
for women and their children.
Pediatrics 2003;11(5):1136–1141.
- Wechsler H, Davenport A, Dowdall G, Moeykens B, Castillo S.
Health
and behavioral consequences of binge drinking in college. JAMA 1994;272(21):1672–1677.
- Kesmodel U, Wisborg K, Olsen SF, Henriksen TB, Sechler NJ.
Moderate alcohol intake in pregnancy and the risk of spontaneous
abortion. Alcohol & Alcoholism 2002;37(1):87–92.
-
American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Substance Abuse and
Committee on Children with Disabilities. 2000.
Fetal alcohol syndrome and alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorders.
Pediatrics 2000;106:358–361.
- Sanap M, Chapman MJ.
Severe ethanol poisoning: a case report and
brief review. Crit Care Resusc 2003;5(2):106–108.
- Corrao G, Rubbiati L, Zambon
A, Arico S.
Alcohol-attributable and
alcohol-preventable mortality in Italy. A balance in 1983 and 1996.
European J Public
Health
2002;12:214–223.
- Corrao G, Bagnardi V, Zambon A, La Vecchia C. A meta-analysis of
alcohol consumption and the risk of 15 diseases. Prev Med 2004;38:613–619.
- Rehm J, Gmel G, Sepos CT, Trevisan M.
Alcohol-related morbidity and
mortality.
Alcohol Health 2003;27(1)39–51.
- Castaneda R, Sussman N, Westreich L, Levy R, O'Malley M.
A review of
the effects of moderate alcohol intake on the treatment of anxiety and
mood disorders.
J Clin Psychiatry 1996;57(5):207–212.
- Booth BM, Feng W.
The impact of drinking and drinking consequences
on short-term employment outcomes in at-risk drinkers in six southern states.
J Behavioral Health Services and Research 2002;29(2):157–166.
- Leonard KE, Rothbard JC.
Alcohol and the marriage effect.
J Stud Alcohol Suppl 1999;13:139–146.
- Baan R, Straif K, Grosse Y, Secretan B, et al. on behalf of the WHO
International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group.
Carcinogenicity of alcoholic beverages. Lancet Oncol.
2007;8:292–293.
- Heron M. Deaths: Leading
Causes for 2004. National Vital Statistics Report, Volume 56, No.
5, November 20, 2007. Hyattsville, MD: Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Available at
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr56/nvsr56_05.pdf
(PDF). Accessed March 28, 2008.
- Schiff ER.
Hepatitis C and alcohol.
Hepatology 1997;26 (Suppl 1): 39S–42S.
- Lesher SDH, Lee YTM.
Acute pancreatitis in a military hospital.
Military Med 1989;154(11):559–564.
- Kelly JP, Kaufman DW, Koff RS, Laszlo A, Wilholm BE, Shapiro S.
Alcohol consumption and the risk of major upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
Am J Gastroenterol 1995;90(7):1058–1064.
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* Links to non-Federal organizations are
provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an
endorsement of any organization by CDC or the Federal Government, and none
should be inferred. The CDC is not responsible for the content of the individual
organization Web pages found at this link.
Page last reviewed: August 6, 2008
Page last modified: August 6, 2008
Content source: Division of Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and
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