Statistics About Alcoholism

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Alcoholism is a progressive degenerative disease that is typified by the following four symptoms: the loss of control, craving, physical dependence, and tolerance.  

There is a number of various issues concerning alcoholism that need to be investigated in order to better understand this menacing disease.

Focusing on the statistics about alcoholism that are available, it is asserted, is one of the more informative ways to analyze alcoholism and its related components.

Why Statistics About Alcoholism are Necessary

Regrettably, the full extent of the damaging and widespread consequences of alcoholism are not typically realized until various alcoholism-related statistics are explicitly stated.

As a result, the following statistics about alcoholism, based on different online surveys and research studies, will be presented:

• More than seven percent of the population ages 18 years and older -- nearly 13.8 million Americans -- have problems with drinking, including 8.1 million people who suffer from alcoholism.
  
  
• Between 48% and 64% of the people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication.
  
  
• During the second stage of alcoholism, physical symptoms such as stomach problems, blackouts, hangovers, and hand tremors increase.
  
  
• More than seven percent of the population ages 18 years and older -- nearly 13.8 million Americans -- have problems with drinking, including 8.1 million people who suffer from alcoholism.
  
  
• 20% of suicide victims in the United States are alcoholics.
  
  
• Approximately 14 million people in the United States are addicted to alcohol or abuse alcohol.
  
  
• More than 2 million Americans suffer from alcohol-related liver disease. Some drinkers, moreover, develop alcoholic hepatitis (that is, an inflammation of the liver) as a result of long-term heavy drinking.
  
  
• In a study of more than 450 American alcoholics and 80 heroin addicts, it was found that the absent father is a very typical occurrence.  In fact, according to this study, it is the rule rather than the exception.
  
  
• 3 million Americans over the age of 60 are alcohol-dependent or alcohol abusers.
  
  
• In the United States, more than 40% of those who start drinking at age 14 or younger become alcoholic.

• Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the United States an estimated $220 billion in 2005.  This dollar amount was more than the cost associated with cancer ($196 billion) and obesity ($133 billion).
  
  
• The 25.9% of underage drinkers who are alcohol abusers and alcohol dependent drink 47.3% of the alcohol that is consumed by all underage drinkers.
  
  
• Alcoholism can increase the risk for certain cancers, especially those of the throat, voice box (larynx), liver, colon, kidneys, rectum, and the esophagus.  Excessive drinking can also cause immune system problems, brain damage, harm to the fetus during pregnancy, and cirrhosis of the liver.

• Approximately 43% of American adults have had a child, parent, sibling or spouse who is or was an alcoholic.
  
  
• More than 100,000 U.S. deaths are caused by excessive alcohol consumption each year. Direct and indirect causes of death include drunk driving, cirrhosis of the liver, falls, cancer, and stroke.
  
  
• In the United States, almost three times as many men (9.8 million) as women (3.9 million) abuse alcohol or are alcohol-dependent.

• Alcoholism and alcohol abuse are the third leading cause of the preventable deaths in the United States.
  
  
• 6.6 million American children under the age of 18 live in homes with at least one alcoholic parent.
  
  
• Alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse cost the United States an estimated $220 billion in 2005.  This dollar amount was more than the cost associated with obesity ($133 billion) or with cancer ($196 billion).
  
  
• More than one-half of American adults have a close family member who has or has had alcohol addiction.
  
  
• United States alcoholism statistics demonstrate that individuals who start using alcohol before the age of 15 are four times more likely to become alcoholic at some time in their lives, compared to those who start drinking at the legal age of 21.

• Between 48% and 64% of the people who die in fires have blood alcohol levels indicating intoxication.
  
  
• In Canada, an estimated 4% of the population over the age of 15 is dependent on alcohol and there are twice as many male alcoholics as female alcoholics.
  
  
• An alcoholic will negatively impact the lives of 4 or 5 other Americans (such as associates, family, and friends) while under the influence of alcohol.
  
  
• 20% of suicide victims in the United States are alcoholic.
  
  
• Long-term excessive drinking can lead to pancreatitis (that is, an inflammation of the pancreas).  Pancreatitis is associated with severe abdominal pain and excessive weight loss and can result in death.  

Statistics About Alcoholism:  Conclusion

It is evident from the above list of statistics about alcoholism that alcoholism is beyond doubt an equal opportunity destroyer. 

That is, alcoholism adversely affects people from every religious affiliation, race, gender, income group, occupation, political party, and nationality.

After reading some of the appalling statistics about alcoholism articulated above, however, it is now more understandable why various people have labeled alcoholism as "the silent stalker" and "the silent killer." 

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