Movendi International has been regularly reporting on the rise of alcohol deaths in the United States since it first started being recorded. The overall rise in the number of deaths, as well as the comparatively larger increase of alcohol harm among women is a common theme in these reports. For example, the CDC finds that alcohol-related liver disease remains the highest among men and women aged 50-64 in the country. However, the rate of incidence is rising among the youth in the country – especially young women. The specific danger of alcohol-related liver disease of course is that it presents no symptoms until it is already in its advanced stages.
According to the newest scientific inquiries into the phenomenon of rising alcohol deaths, much of this is due to the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic and the practices of alcohol companies. Most communities in the U.S., as well as the rest of the world did not have the necessary support system in place to address the mental load of quarantining for extended periods of time. And at the same time, alcohol companies lobbied for making alcohol more available, pushed alcohol even more aggressively through marketing, and used online sales and on-demand delivery to further increase alcohol availability – driving consumption, their own profits, and harm in the society.
According to American Psychological Associations findings, 23% of adults consumed more alcohol than usual during the pandemic.
An RTI International study also found that mothers with children younger than 5 increased alcohol consumption by 323% during 2020.
During this period, the alcohol industry also took steps to prey on people’s vulnerabilities to drive up their own sales and profits.
- Big Alcohol lobbied aggressively alcohol stores being declared as “essential businesses” in numerous federal states
- Big Alcohol also pushed for home deliveries of alcohol being allowed in numerous federal states.
These are two examples of the harmful practices of the alcohol lobby during the pandemic. At the same time, the availability of mental health care for alcohol use and related problems during the pandemic declined – as Movendi has documented – even though the need and demand for such services rose. Dr. Corey Lyon, a family physician at UCHealth A.F. Williams Family Medicine Clinic, comments on the role of the pandemic as a stressor that drives unhealthy behaviour.
What we’ve learned coming out of the pandemic is a greater appreciation of how alcohol is being used in unhealthy ways,” Dr. Lyon said.
There’s much more awareness of patients using alcohol as a coping mechanism to help sleep, as a distractor to other stressors or problems in their lives, and of unrecognized alcohol problems.”
Dr. Corey Lyon, family physician, UCHealth A.F. Williams Family Medicine Clinic
And the alcohol industry has promoted alcohol as a coping tool during the pandemic – fueling misperceptions about alcohol and its effects.
Alcohol harm in the United States
In late February 2024, the CDC published a report that analysed 58 causes of death linked to alcohol.
The report revealed that alcohol caused the loss of 178,307 lives in the period between 2020-2021. One third of these deaths were due to traffic crashes. The rest were caused by alcohol-related health issues.
Compared to the period between 2016-2017, this is an increase of 29.3% in deaths caused by alcohol.
29% of these deaths were caused directly by alcohol, while 71% were indirectly linked to alcohol.
The increase in alcohol deaths is also reflected in a 2.9% increase in alcohol sales. While this number may appear small, it is also the largest annual increase in over 50 years.
Alcohol-related liver disease is perhaps the most visible of all kinds of alcohol harm. The liver is the organ responsible for metabolizing ethyl alcohol. Due to the skyrocketing of alcohol consumption, liver cirrhosis is becoming a severe issue in the U.S. More than 45,000 people were suffering from alcohol-related liver disease in 2022.
Of the more than 98,000 U.S. liver-disease deaths among people 12 years and older in 2022, 46% were due to alcohol. Worryingly, the percentages are much higher (75-80%) people younger than 45 years.
Other than cirrhosis, alcohol also causes a wide range of diseases. Those include alcohol polyneuropathy, alcoholic psychosis, alcohol myopathy, alcohol-induced acute pancreatitis, and others. Alcohol is also causally related to 5.6% of cancer cases and 4% of cancer deaths, including up to one-third of liver cancer deaths among men.
Alcohol’s damage extends to the cardiovascular system. In addition to obvious direct effects such as alcoholic cardiomyopathy, it boosts the risk of heart disease 1% to 2% and that of hypertension (high blood pressure) as 2% to 11% among males and 4% to 18% among females. For one, alcohol causes oxidative stress, which stiffens the arteries, raising blood pressure, and coronary artery disease.
Experts recommend decreasing the risk of alcohol deaths through proven alcohol policy solutions
The U.S. very clearly suffers from a heavy alcohol burden. According to a Gallup survey conducted in 2023, 62% of U.S. adults self report as consuming alcohol. Only 38% of survey respondents live free of alcohol.
CDC researchers agree with globally established scientific evidence that availability and affordability drive alcohol use. The CDC therefore recommends that the country implements public health policies that address these elements. Researchers with the organisation specifically recommend reducing the number of sales outlets, as well as increasing alcohol taxes to reduce their affordability. The experts also recommend that the government addresses the proliferation of alcohol marketing. The normalisation of alcohol across society was dangerous, according to the experts. This allows the alcohol industry to become so integrated into daily life that alcohol becomes ubiquitous and that alcohol harm tends to become invisible, as if it was part of the social fabric.
Sources
Psychology Today – Alcohol Use Is Getting Deadlier in the United States
The National Desk – Fact Check Team: What’s behind a sharp rise in US alcohol-related deaths?
UC Health – The truth about drinking alcohol. Is it healthy?
For further reading
Read more and stay updated about alcohol and the pandemic with this carefully curated and regularly updated resource page.
In the scientific report series “Alcohol and Society” we have also published a unique analysis of alcohol’s role in the pandemic: “Alcohol and the Coronavirus Pandemic“.
