12 May The worlds deadliest! Alcohol.
Alcohol moderation and consumption is often in the news. Each week a new health concern or health benefit for alcohol consumption is published, with the public not knowing if it’s beneficial one week or threat the next. We drink because we like the taste but alcohol consumption is estimated to cause up to 20% to 50% of damage to the liver, epilepsy, poisonings, road traffic accidents, violence and several types of cancer. Across the world this is the same issue. Alcohol related deaths are forever on the increase with in the UK alone having over 8000 alcohol related deaths in 2014. Research indicates that alcohol use throughout the teenage years could interfere with normal adolescent brain development and increases the risk of developing alcohol use disorder. In addition, underage drinking contributes to a range of acute consequences, including injuries, sexual assaults, and even deaths (including car accidents).
A massive 86.4% of over 18 year olds admitted to drinking some sort of alcohol in the past year across the world. With 26.9% admitting in engaging in binge drinking within the past month, a concern for all due to the health risks that come with it. In 2012 there about 3.3 million net deaths, or 5.9% of all global deaths, were attributable to alcohol consumption. This high proportion of deaths shows the consequences of alcohol consumption and the dangers of alcohol. 15.1 million adults ages 18 and older3 (6.2 percent) had alcohol use disorder. This includes 9.8 million men (8.4 percent) and 5.3 million women (4.2 percent).
What was found is that eastern European countries had the highest alcohol mortality rates and that the higher the mortality rate, the higher the alcohol consumption. What was measured was the amount of liters of pure alcohol that was consumed on average per year for 15+, this was measured for the consumption of wine, beer and sprits. Estonia came out at number one, with the average Estonian drinking over 5 liters of pure beer and spirits each year making it the booziest country. Denmark comes at number 6, but it is the nation that drinks the most wine, coming in at just under 4 liters on average per year.
