Why Americans are drinking more post pandemic and how it is impacting their health

Pandemic-induced alcoholism is showing no signs of decline. A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine has found how the alcohol consumption in the United States continues to be high even after two years of pandemic.
Dealing with the uncertainties of pandemic wasn’t easy, especially when it took a heavy emotional and physical toll on people. To cope with the long and taxing period of lockdown and multiple challenges, many Americans took to alcohol consumption. No wonder, the stress and isolation of the pandemic drove many Americans towards alcohol addiction as the familiarity of every day life took a backseat. However, what’s more worrisome is that even after the pandemic is over and two years have passed, the trend is showing no signs of reversing, found out the latest study.
The percentage of Americans who consumed alcohol, which had already risen from 2018 to 2020, went up further in 2021 and 2022 and more people reported heavy or binge drinking,
“Early on in the pandemic, we were seeing an enormous surge of people coming in to the clinic and the hospital with alcohol-related problems,” said Dr. Brian P. Lee, a hepatologist at Keck Medicine of the University of Southern California and the principal investigator of the study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Dr Lee added that people assumed the increase in drinking was caused by acute stress, like what was seen during 9/11 and Katrina, and it typically goes back to normal, but that’s not what happened in case of the pandemic.
The addictive nature of alcohol could stop people from giving it away long after the cause of stress is gone.

Why drinking too much alcohol is a problem

Drinking too much alcohol can cause alcohol use disorder (AUD). According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use happens when one indulges in binge drinking, or heavy drinking. Underage people who drink alcohol or its use by pregnant women also come under its purview. AUD is a clinical diagnosis that indicates someone’s drinking is causing distress and harm. It can range from mild to severe, depending on the severity of the symptoms. Severe AUD is called alcohol addiction.

During the pandemic, many people were killed due to excess alcohol use or landed in hospitals with liver disease or withdrawal symptoms.
George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) said during the first two years of the pandemic, the number of death certificates listing alcohol as a factor soared from 78,927 to 108,791 which was an increase of nearly 38% and many of them were between the ages of 25 and 44.

Disastrous impact of alcohol use Americans faced

As the alcohol use in Americans increased, many people landed in hospital due to its consequences including liver disease and withdrawal symptoms.
“People seeking liver transplants because of alcohol misuse are younger than ever, with many transplant centers reporting that some of their patients haven’t even reached the age of 30. Unfortunately, deaths due to alcohol-linked liver disease increased by more than 22% during the pandemic,” said Dr Koob.
According to WHO, drinking alcohol is associated with risks of developing noncommunicable diseases such as liver diseases, heart diseases, and different types of cancers, as well as mental health and behavioural conditions such as depression, anxiety and alcohol use disorders.

More about the study

The study was based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics’ National Health Interview Survey which included 26,806 adults aged 18 and over. It showed that 69.3% of Americans reported consuming alcohol in 2022, a slight increase from 69.03% in 2020 and 66.34% in 2018.
More concerning, the percentage of Americans engaging in heavy drinking rose to 6.29% in 2022, up from 6.13% in 2020 and 5.1% in 2018. Heavy drinking was defined as consuming five or more drinks in a day for men or four or more for women. The increase was observed across all demographics except for Native Americans and Asian Americans, where heavy drinking declined. White Americans showed the highest rates of heavy drinking, with 7.34% in 2022, compared to 7.11% in 2020 and 5.69% in 2018.
The most notable rise in heavy drinking was among adults in their 40s, where 8.23% reported heavy drinking in 2022, an increase from 6.49% in 2020 and 5.14% in 2018.
The rise in heavy drinking was most notable among adults in their 40s, where 8.23% reported heavy drinking in 2022, an increase from 6.49% in 2020 and 5.14% in 2018. Adults aged 50 to 64 were close behind at 7.15%, up from 5.65% in 2018 and 6.95% in 2020. Additionally, 6.45% of women reported heavy drinking, surpassing the 6.12% of men. Both men and women also reported an uptick in binge drinking, with 5.19% of women and 5.01% of men binge drinking in 2018. By 2020, both genders showed increased heavy drinking rates, with 6.19% of men and 6.08% of women.
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