Answer Addiction

Tag: alcohol-related deaths

  • "Sober Curious" or Literally Dying: When Saving Your Life Becomes Trendy

    "Sober Curious" or Literally Dying: When Saving Your Life Becomes Trendy

    It’s not my intention to minimize what sober curious folks are doing, but let’s not lose sight of actual alcoholism or addiction either.

    Somewhere in the drunken mess of 2002, I was curious to try the combination of vodka and Klonopin. Ditto, I was a curious little kitten when it came to what could possibly happen if I took acid and ecstasy at the same time! I was curiouser and curiouser about everything, from trying heroin to trying to buy cocaine instead of paying my rent. That’s the sort of curious that kept me in trouble for the better part of two decades, but curious to quit drinking because I just needed a break from partying and how it was affecting my life? Uh, not so much.

    Trendy, Cool, and Not Dying

    If you don’t know what the “sober curious” movement is, you haven’t been paying attention to “sober influencers.” Those phrases actually cause my eyes to deeply roll and my head to shake like a bitchy old neighbor watching you try to parallel park. Look, I don’t know anything about being an influencer unless we’re talking about the fellow teenagers I influenced to take drugs and come to the mall with me in the 80’s. I also don’t know about sobriety being trendy. I didn’t get sober to be cool, I just got sober to stop dying. But I do know that this sober curious movement is an actual thing.

    We (and by that I mean people like me who write about recovery) like to latch our collective wagons to sobriety buzzwords and trends. This summer, the world cannot stop talking about “sober curious.” The term, taken from author Ruby Warrington’s book by the name same, has popped up on every media outlet over the last few months.

    “Sober curious,” for the uninitiated, describes:

    • Folks who don’t need to get sober but who can see the benefits of cutting down or cutting out alcohol completely.
    • Mainly younger people who want to relieve the pressure to drink heavily at social occasions.
    • Folks who are concerned with hangovers and how drinking is affecting their social and professional lives.
    • Whimsical nymphs who want to hang out with their friends but not get loaded.

    In short, the sober curious ain’t me.

    When Alcohol Is Mildly Inconvenient

    See, these folks can take or leave drugs or alcohol. They don’t identify as having a problem. Alcohol is mildly inconvenient for them; it’s like your aunt Linda who eats chicken vindaloo but forgets it gives her heartburn. Fundamentally, I do not understand this way of thinking. The way I’m wired, I like to do substances in amounts that will numb me out completely. I didn’t care if work was going to be hard the next day or if my health was going to be affected. Hell, I needed tequila and cocaine just to get through six-hour shifts waiting tables.

    I mean, why casually use drugs or drink alcohol when you can implode your whole existence? This is a level of insanity that probably isn’t familiar to the “sober curious.” Nevertheless, they’ve decided to rally together and say “We’re just going to stop drinking and it’s okay if you do too!” It’s more like giving up carbs for a trendy diet than, say, being placed on dietary restrictions because otherwise your diabetes will kill you.

    As a movement in and of itself, it’s harmless. I see no problem with people whose brains are very much not like my own who can say, “Maybe I should cool it with the booze for a while.” The fewer people stumbling around, barfing in Ubers, and screaming at each other in Taco Bell at 3 a.m. can only be a good thing for society. The annoying trendiness notwithstanding, sober curious has at the very least made people examine their relationship with alcohol.

    However, I don’t see a lot of “sober curious” folks in the ER or ICU.

    At my day job as a recovery mentor on an addiction medicine team at a busy urban hospital, I see far more people brought in because of the effects drinking has had on their lives than nearly anything else. As devastating as the opioid crisis continues to be, there is a continuous influx of people with alcohol-related health problems. Sure, sure, the emergency room sees a handful of bachelorette party attendees who drank too much and fell down a flight of stairs who show up needing TLC for a busted ankle. But mainly, I witness patients who are way beyond curious.

    They come in broken, in desperate need of medical and psychosocial attention due to their relationships with alcohol. Despite winding up in the hospital, sometimes in terrible condition, many of them think it’s not that bad or that they can just cut down. I certainly identify with this thinking. For decades, I fooled myself into thinking I could outrun it, or that the handful of people I knew who were heavier drinkers meant I couldn’t possibly be that bad.

    This is where the Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) diagnosis comes in handy. Used in our hospital (and around the country), the diagnosis quickly separates the sober curious from people literally dying. Some NIH assessment questions for AUD include: “Have you continued to drink even though it was causing trouble with your family or friends?” and “Have you experienced craving — a strong need, or urge, to drink?” This sounds wildly different than the interns at the office who decided to cut back on Rosé because it was making them feel icky. It’s not my intention to minimize what sober curious folks are doing, but let’s not lose sight of actual alcoholism or addiction either. Marginalization, ignoring, and minimizing have never done substance use disorders any good.

    If You Drink Again, You Will Die

    For the people I see in hospital beds and for people like me, it’s a matter of life and death.

    Beyond that, this idea that younger people are drinking less and buying less alcohol doesn’t jibe with bigger, more staggering statistics of alcohol-related deaths among millennials. A study from earlier this summer found that folks between the ages of 23 and 38 were dying the most of “deaths of despair”, meaning suicide, overdose, and alcohol-related deaths. Furthermore, additional data shows that from 2009 to 2016 there was a significant increase in cirrhosis-related deaths among millennials, which researchers say was driven by alcohol-related liver disease.

    Over the last year, I have personally worked with a handful of patients under 30 who have the kind of alcoholic liver damage usually only seen in people twice their age. From my position at their bedsides, it certainly doesn’t look like a generation that has this booze thing all figured out. It looks like a group of people being killed even faster than the generation before them. This is a story not buzzword-worthy or even really noticed. About a month ago, I had the honor of sitting with a 28-year-old while he processed the news that if he ever drank again, he’d die. Heavy news for a kid whose friends are all still happy hour-hopping and swilling the latest craft beers. This young man didn’t have the option of being sober curious.

    Yet, as different as Ruby Warrington and I are regarding alcohol, we’re doing the same thing: We’re talking about how much we drink. What if someone reads my stuff and says, “Well at least I don’t drink like that guy!” Likewise, the plethora of sober curious articles might make a reverse light bulb go on for someone. They might seek help after reading about this new trendy health craze and think: “sober curious, that ain’t me.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Deaths From Alcohol, Suicide & Overdose Reach Record High

    Deaths From Alcohol, Suicide & Overdose Reach Record High

    Suicide, drug overdose and alcohol now kill more than 150,000 Americans annually. 

    Deaths from suicide, drug overdose and alcohol have reached an all-time high in the United States. 

    Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) analyzed by two non-profit organizations revealed that deaths attributed to those causes rose 6% in 2017, USA Today reported.

    Those factors are now responsible for 46.6 deaths per 100,000—killing more than 150,000 people each year, according to U.S. News and World Report.

    In 2017, deaths from suicide rose 4%, double the pace of increase over the past decade. Deaths caused by synthetic opioids also skyrocketed, up 45%. However, five states saw decreases in deaths from suicide, overdose and alcohol. Those were Massachusetts, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Utah and Wyoming.

    Loribeth Bowman Stein, of Milford, Connecticut, believes that social isolation is contributing to these co-called diseases of despair.

    She said, “We don’t really see each other anymore. We don’t share our hopes and joys in the same way, and we aren’t as available to one another, physically and emotionally, as we need to be. The world got smaller, but lonelier.”

    Kimberly McDonald, a licensed clinical social worker in Wisconsin lost her father to suicide, and says that she sees patients struggling with suicidal ideation and addiction every day. Often, they don’t get the support that they need to heal. 

    “We are a society that criticizes and lacks compassion, integrity, and empathy. I work daily with individuals who each have their own demons,” she said. 

    However, Benjamin Miller, a psychologist and chief strategy officer at the Well Being Trust, said that people need to avoid the temptation to explain away these alarming statistics. 

    He said, “It’s almost a joke how simple we’re trying to make these issues. We’re not changing direction, and it’s getting worse.”

    The Well Being Trust calls for policy changes, such as restricting access to firearms and medications that can be deadly for someone looking to end their life. In addition, the trust calls for more funding for programs that support resiliency in kids, address childhood trauma, and provide treatment for addiction.

    All of these efforts, Miller said, can help save lives. Progress has been made in these areas, but there is need for more work, Miller said. 

    “It is important to see hope in the slowing of rates—but it’s not nearly enough. We should not be satisfied at all. Too many of us are dying from preventable causes.”

    Overall, the suicide rate has increased 33% since 1999. Rural states including West Virginia, New Mexico, Ohio, Alaska and New Hampshire have the highest suicide rates. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Do Studies Touting Benefits Of Alcohol Consumption Tell The Whole Story?

    Do Studies Touting Benefits Of Alcohol Consumption Tell The Whole Story?

    For young and middle-age adults, alcohol consumption may actually be more harmful than previously thought.  

    Studies that point to alcohol consumption as beneficial may only be telling part of the story, as they tend to focus on those aged 50 and older, and disregard alcohol-related deaths before that age, according to new research.

    For young and middle-age adults, alcohol consumption may actually be more harmful than previously thought.  

    Researchers in a recent study, according to Live Science, looked at information from a database which estimates the U.S.’s approximate number of deaths and years of life lost due to alcohol intake.

    Included in the database were 54 medical conditions related both directly and indirectly to alcohol use, like car crashes involving alcohol and liver-related diseases. Some of the conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, linked alcohol with a reduced risk of the condition. 

    In studying the data, researchers led by Timothy Naimi of Boston Medical Center’s Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit determined that in the four years from 2006 to 2010, around 36% of alcohol-related deaths were in those ages 20 to 49, and 35% were in those older than 65.

    Additionally, Live Science reports, researchers noted that about 60% of the years of life lost were in those ages 20 to 49, and only 15% were in those ages 65 and older. 

    The authors note that “deceased persons cannot be enrolled in cohort studies,” and add that, “Those who are established drinkers at age 50 are ‘survivors’ of their alcohol consumption who [initially] might have been healthier or have had safer drinking patterns” when compared to others who drank. 

    In order to determine any benefits of alcohol consumption, researchers took note of fatalities “estimated to be ‘prevented’ by alcohol consumption, as well as years of life ‘saved by alcohol,” according to Live Science.

    They found that those ages 20 to 49 accounted for about 4.5% of deaths supposedly prevented by alcohol, in comparison to 80% in those ages 65 and above.

    In conclusion, the authors note that those in the younger age ranges “are more likely to die from alcohol consumption than they are to die from a lack of drinking.” They add that those in older age brackets are more likely to reap benefits from drinking, and are likely the ones highlighted in studies that point to benefits of alcohol consumption. 

    “This study adds to the literature questioning protective effects for alcohol on all-cause mortality,” the authors add. 

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Alcohol-Related Deaths Surge Among Women

    Alcohol-Related Deaths Surge Among Women

    A new study revealed that alcohol-related deaths among women have increased substantially from 2007 to 2017.

    Despite being overshadowed by the current opioid epidemic, alcohol kills more people each year than opioids—and it’s hitting women especially hard, with the death rate rising 67% between 2007 and 2017. 

    Lawyer Erika Byrd was 42 when she died in 2011. A few months before her death, after leaving a treatment center, Byrd had lunch with her father and admitted that alcohol had made her into a different person. Though doctors never said alcohol killed her, her father Ron says he knows it did.

    “The death certificate never says alcoholism,” he says. “It said heart arrhythmia and heart valve disease. But nobody in our family had heart problems.”

    According to USA Today, the new statistics come from a recent analysis from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The analysis examined alcohol deaths in the 10 years between 2007 and 2017 and found that overall, the death rate increased by 24%.

    However, the numbers when it came to women were especially concerning with the increase of 67%. In contrast, the rate for men increased 29%. According to USA Today, alcohol-related deaths include those caused by cancer, liver cirrhosis, pancreatitis and suicide. 

    Another study published last year in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research supports the idea that alcohol is becoming more problematic among women in particular.

    In the study, researchers examined data from emergency room visits from 2006 to 2014 and found that there was a significant increase among middle-aged women when it came to visits related to acute and chronic alcohol use. 

    According to New York City attorney and author Lisa Smith, who has been in recovery for 10 years, alcohol is a growing issue but isn’t being treated as such.

    “It is poison, and we’re treating it like it’s something other than that because there‘s big corporate money behind it,” she told USA Today. “A lot of people are getting really rich on something that is toxic to us.”

    Ali Mokdad, a professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, tells USA Today that there are often differences in problem drinking for men and women. In particular, he points out that women often begin drinking casually as a way to de-stress after the workday and the problem builds from there. 

    Stefanie Wilder-Taylor, an author and podcast host, agrees. “Moms just aren’t going to call home and say they’re stopping for a couple drinks after work with friends or going to the gym to unwind,” she tells USA Today. Instead, she says, they will drink at home while preparing dinner or relaxing.

    This was the case for Amy Durham, who nearly died from her drinking six years ago, at the age of 40. Durham was taken to the hospital with triple organ failure and ended up in a coma for more than a week. Afterward, she was on dialysis and placed on a liver transplant list. 

    Now, she has been in recovery for six years and works in the field, using her own story to reduce the stigma for women.

    “I want to show the world what recovery looks like, especially for women where stigma is still the way it is,” Durham says. “I want people to know there is hope.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • The High Cost Of Alcohol Misuse In The US

    The High Cost Of Alcohol Misuse In The US

    A USA Today editorial explores how the US can save lives and money by reducing alcohol consumption. 

    Public health campaigns reduced cigarette smoking in the United States by more than half since 1964, according to the CDC. Can the same be done with alcohol?

    A new report in USA Today reminds us that drinking alcohol—while it is socially acceptable and promoted widely—is no benign matter.

    Alcohol is attributed to approximately 88,000 deaths every year in the U.S. About half of alcohol-related deaths involve binge drinking. According to a 2015 national survey, 15.1 million American adults were reported as having alcohol use disorder, with just about 6.7% of them receiving treatment for it.

    “It’s just so socially acceptable, especially among the people who write the laws. It’s the drug of choice and incredibly normalized for upper income people in the USA,” says David Jernigan, a professor at Boston University School of Public Health.

    In 2010, the public health cost of alcohol misuse in the U.S. was $249 billion—most of it involved binge drinking.

    Alcohol-related deaths are reportedly on the rise. So what can be done about it?

    USA Today explores several approaches to reducing alcohol consumption, and thus its public health costs:

    Raising taxes

    “Alcohol taxes are a win, win, win. States get more money and people drink somewhat less,” says Jernigan. According to the CDC, a 10% increase in taxes leads to a 5-8% decline in drinking. But critics of this policy say that state coffers will suffer while drinking levels remain the same. They claim that instead of giving up booze, people will opt to travel to other states where taxes aren’t as high.

    Restricting sales

    Municipal governments have the option of limiting the number of liquor stores per region, and the days and hours of operation. With fewer liquor stores per capita, the idea is to reduce sales and thus drinking.

    Expanding access to treatment

    Psychologist Ben Miller says that integrating mental health care in the practice of primary care physicians can “begin to change the culture of care to be more comprehensive.” This may improve early detection of drinking problems.

    Teaching coping skills

    Teaching resilience, coping skills and mental health literacy at a young age are important and can be effective in preventing kids from seeking an unhealthy relationship with mind-altering substances.

    “The most important substance we should be looking at is alcohol, because it leads to so many things, including physical abuse and rape, that shouldn’t happen,” says Jernigan. “We need to stop accepting that there isn’t anything we can do about it.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Are Diabetics More Likely To Die From Alcoholism?

    Are Diabetics More Likely To Die From Alcoholism?

    Alcohol-related deaths, specifically cirrhosis of the liver, were as much as 10 times higher for those with diabetes, according to a new study.

    A Finnish study concluded that diabetes sufferers are at significantly higher risk than the non-diabetic population of death from alcohol-related issues or suicide, due to the strain on their mental health while managing the disease.

    However, once the numbers of the study are parsed, it’s clear that the risk in the diabetic community is relatively small overall.

    Studies have already proven that diabetes—especially diabetes that is not well-controlled—puts a person at higher risk for various serious health issues such as certain cancers and heart disease.

    However, the new Finnish research, published in the European Journal of Endocrinology, shows that because of the strain of managing diabetes, those with the disease are at higher risk of psychological issues and resulting death.

    Specifically, The Independent reported that the study showed that alcohol-related deaths, particularly caused by cirrhosis of the liver, were as much as 10 times higher in the diabetic community versus those without the disease. Death by suicide was increased by a staggering 110%. The more severe the disease (requiring more insulin injections and medical interventions) the bigger the risk of death.

    The lead researcher on the study, Professor Leo Niskanen of the University of Helsinki, said, “We know that living with diabetes can lead to a mental health strain.”

    A diagnosis of diabetes is either Type 1 or Type 2. Both variations disrupt the way your body regulates blood sugar, also known as glucose. Insulin allows glucose to enter the body’s cells. In Type 1 diabetes, the body is not producing insulin, while in Type 2, the cells are not responding as well as they should be to insulin.

    During the timeframe of the Finnish study, there were 2,832 deaths related to alcohol and 853 deaths by suicide. Patients taking insulin saw a 6.9% increase in deaths from alcohol-related conditions for diabetic men, and 10.6 times higher for women. Patients taking oral medication—who were able to control their condition with diet and exercise—saw an increased risk of death but at a much lower percentile.

    Professor Niskanen says, “The low absolute suicidal rates make the risk ratios look very high—even small increase in risk may thus have higher risk ratios… However, they are highly [statistically] significant anyway. This study has highlighted that there is a need for effective psychological support for people with diabetes. If [diabetes patients] feel like they are under a heavy mental burden or consider that their use of alcohol is excessive, they should not hesitate to discuss these issues with their primary care physician.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Are Men More Likely To Engage In Risky Drinking?

    Are Men More Likely To Engage In Risky Drinking?

    Apparently men and women differ in how they approach the legal drinking age.

    Driving drunk, getting in physical fights and taking part in risky sexual behavior—all three of these are more common in men than women when the drinking age starts at 21, according to new research. 

    WUWM reports that while previous research supports the fact that there is an increase in alcohol-related deaths and violent crimes at age 21, Jason Fletcher, a professor and researcher at University of Wisconsin-Madison, wanted to reach beyond those statistics.

    Fletcher wanted to zone in on other “problem areas” that follow the legal drinking age. 

    To do so, Fletcher studied data from Add Health, a study covering adolescent to adult health in the U.S. What he found pointed to men facing more consequences than women after turning 21.

    “There is just nothing I can discern from the data of negative impacts along the outcomes that I examine for women,” Fletcher said, according to WUWM. “The individuals in the data, when they turn 21, they do drink more, but the consequences that I examined, women don’t seem to have those consequences.”

    According to WUWM, Fletcher says one possible response is for authority figures, such as parents, to step in and remind their children of the risks of drinking as they approach 21.

    “And, it might be a reasonable intervention to remind parents of individuals about to turn 21, that especially their sons, about these negative consequences,” Fletcher stated. “Maybe they could at least be part of these interventions, in terms of reducing these risky behaviors right around the legal age of drinking.” 

    Another part of Fletcher’s research was the discovery that parental involvement won’t necessarily deter children from risky drinking. The research actually found that children around age 21 living with parents have steeper increases in risky drinking than those children living away from their parents. 

    Last year, a bill to lower Wisconsin’s drinking age to 19 was presented in the state legislature. However, Fletcher’s solution would be to move in the other direction, by increasing the legal drinking age for men to 22 or 23—though he acknowledges that it’s not likely Wisconsinites would approve such a change.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Alcohol Responsible For 5% Of Deaths Worldwide

    Alcohol Responsible For 5% Of Deaths Worldwide

    A new WHO report found that alcohol-related deaths continue to be a major issue, particularly among men.

    More than 5% of worldwide deaths can be attributed to alcohol, according to a new report. 

    The data was part of a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) that is released every four years, according to the Guardian.

    The report found that of the approximately 3 million alcohol-related deaths per year, about 2.3 million in 2016 were men. It also noted that nearly 29% of deaths caused by alcohol were the result of injuries, including driving incidents and suicides. 

    A standout finding of the report was the toll that alcohol takes on younger generations. For example, the report found that 13.5% of deaths in those in their 20s were linked to alcohol somehow, while alcohol was held responsible for 7.2% of premature deaths in all. 

    Despite the fact that worldwide alcohol-related deaths have decreased from 5.9% to 5.3% since 2012, Dr. Vladimir Poznyak, a WHO alcohol-control expert who was involved in the report, tells the Guardian that the results are not something to take lightly.

    “Unfortunately, the implementation of the most effective policy options is lagging behind the magnitude of the problems,” he said. “Governments need to do more to meet the global targets and to reduce the burden of alcohol on societies; this is clear, and this action is either absent or not sufficient in most of the countries of the world.” 

    Additionally, Poznyak added that the numbers in the report were likely an underestimate.

    “Alcohol use starts in many countries well before [age] 15, so that is why we can say that our estimates are quite conservative, because we don’t count at all the impact of alcohol consumption on kids below 15,” he told the Guardian.

    On a more positive note, the report also detailed the fact that in some regions, such as Europe and the Americas, the number of drinkers is decreasing.

    In Europe, consumption per person has decreased from 10.9 liters of pure alcohol in 2012 to 9.6 in 2016. Even so, Europe remains the region where the most alcohol is consumed overall.

    Rajiv Jalan, professor of hepatology at University College London, tells the Guardian that one of the main concerns in the UK is the age of consumption. The report found that 44% of 15 to 19-year-olds in the region are considered “active drinkers.”

    Jalan added that it is very concerning that alcohol accounts for 10% of deaths in Europe. 

    “The biggest problem that we have is that, certainly in Europe and if you focus more on the UK, there isn’t really a strategy which is all-encompassing in order to address this death rate. All the different elements that are known to work have not yet been implemented.”

    View the original article at thefix.com