The rate of alcohol-related deaths is now increasing significantly for women, according to a national study of more than twenty years of data. Experts said this new Journal of the American Medical Association study of alcohol-related deaths could save the lives of women across the country.
“In order to know like whether or not there is a problem, we need to understand it first,” Associate Professor in the Department of Mental Health Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Johannes Thrul said.
The study looked at 605,948 deaths attributed to alcohol from 1999 – 2020.
Men are still almost three times as likely to die from alcohol than women, according to the study. In recent years, however, it finds the rate of alcohol-related deaths is increasing significantly for women -- and faster than the rate for men.
“We need to track it and then as a consequence, shift resources to either prevent it or help treat people who have problems,” Thrul said.
He believes there are different potential explanations for what’s causing these trends.
“If you think about wine has been specifically targeted by the industry to women,” he explained. “When you look at portrayal of alcohol use in films for example, in movies, right, there is sort of this theme of ‘oh you’re having a bad day, you’re stressed out, alcohol is the answer.’”
Researchers said now, even more study is needed.
“I think our understanding as a society of the negative consequences, the potential negative consequence of alcohol use is still evolving,” Thrul said.
National data shows alcohol is the fourth-leading preventable cause of death. It follows tobacco, poor diet and exercise, and illegal drugs.
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