Making Wise Decisions About Alcohol Use
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that excessive alcohol use causes one in ten deaths in adults ages 20- to 64-years-old. At 88,000 deaths per year between the years of 2006 and 2010, it is one of the leading causes of preventable deaths in that age group. Additionally, the CDC notes that, although drinking below the age of 21 is illegal, people between the ages of 12 and 20 years of age consume 11% of all alcohol ingested in the United States. Excessive drinking in the underage population accounts for 4,300 deaths annually. While the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) cites some benefits from moderate alcohol consumption--decreased risk for heart disease, decreased risk of ischemic stroke and decreased risk of diabetes--it indicates that 47% of the 78,529 liver disease deaths in 2015 were alcohol related. Moreover, drinking alcohol increases the risks of cancer in the mouth, esophagus, pharynx, larynx and breast. The