Six Americans die from alcohol poisoning daily on average, and mortality rates are highest among middle-aged men, federal health authorities reported on Tuesday.
The report is the first in a decade by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to tally alcohol poisonings for the entire American population. Most previous analyses looked at certain groups, in particular young people.
The agency found that an average of 2,221 people died of alcohol poisoning annually between 2010 and 2012. Three-quarters of the deaths occurred among 35- to 64-year-olds, the report found, and about three-quarters were men. The death rate was highest among men ages 45 to 54.
“Most previous studies have looked at college kids and young people, but the problem is bigger than that,” said Dr. Robert Brewer, who heads the alcohol program at the C.D.C. “It was surprising that the number of deaths was so concentrated among middle-age adults.”
The C.D.C. described death from alcohol poisoning as “a bigger problem than previously thought,” but said it was impossible to tell whether the death rate had risen because researchers had changed how they track the data in recent years.
When large amounts of alcohol are consumed in a short period of time, blood-alcohol levels rise sharply, overwhelming the body’s ability to respond. Excessive alcohol intake can shut down parts of the brain that control breathing, body temperature and heart rate.
Such deaths are typically the result of binge drinking at high intensity, the report said. It defined binge drinking as four or more drinks in one “occasion” for women, and five or more drinks for men.
About 38 million adults report binge drinking an average of four times a month, according to the report, but the vast majority of binge drinkers — about 90 percent — are not alcoholics.
Alcohol dependence was a contributing cause in just one-third of the deaths, the report found.
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