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Alcohol Is Killing More People Than Opioids

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alcohol is killing more

Alcohol is killing more adults in the United States than the opioid epidemic, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. The surge in alcohol-related deaths is new and, for many, it is surprising.

Deaths From Drinking

The opioid epidemic has gotten quite a bit of news coverage. However, it turns out the drinking epidemic may be more harmful to the U.S. population. Opioids kill around 72,000 people each year. Alcohol kills 88,000. All in all, drinking leads to 2.5 million years of potential life lost.

Over the past decade, the number of alcohol-related deaths has increased by 35 percent. Surprisingly, the demographic being affected by the alcohol epidemic is young women. Among this group, alcohol-related deaths rose by 67 percent, compared to only 27 percent for men.

Alcohol Is Killing More Women

The National Institute on Alcohol and Abuse and Alcoholism says women are more susceptible to these types of deaths because they generally weigh less than men. This makes women feel the effects of alcohol faster and those who drink excessively are prone to liver damage, heart disease, breast cancer, and possible pregnancy complications.

The Institute has also found that 9.3 percent of women said they drank alcohol while pregnant. Another 51.1. percent drank alcohol in general, compared to 61.3 percent of men. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed said they engaged in binge drinking in the past month, compared to 32.1 percent of men. Only 5.4 percent of female drinkers and 7.4 percent of men received help for an alcohol disorder.

Researchers did have some good news to uncover in the report though. Overall, teen drinking deaths are on the decline (down 16 percent in 10 years). However, deaths attributed to drinking for people between the ages of 45 and 64 have increased by 25 percent.

Who Cares?

Although it seems like women are drinking less than men, overall, they are still experiencing a higher rate of mortality associated with drinking. It is important to note that most of the alcohol deaths included in the report are not instantaneous. Many of them develop over time.

Location is also a factor. At the top of the list for most alcohol deaths is the District of Columbia, followed by Georgia and Alabama. Other states on the list are general places with lower alcohol control policies (Nevada, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Wyoming).

The bigger question here is, with alcohol-related deaths on the rise, why do Americans still feel that drinking in excess is acceptable? Psychologist Benjamin Miller noted, “Culturally, we’ve made it acceptable to drink but not to go out and shoot up heroin,” he said. “A lot of people will read this and say ‘What’s the problem?’”

Readers, what do you think about the latest report? Are you surprised alcohol-related deaths are on the rise?

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Don’t Spend Your Tax Refund on These 7 Things

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Don't spend your tax refund like thisCongratulations: If you’re like 80% of the population, you are getting a tax refund, and it’s averaging $1,600 this year. A financially responsible person might opt to pay down debt or invest the money — but temptations to spend it are everywhere. But someday you might regret not putting your windfall to better use, and that’s why you don’t want to spend your tax refund on any of the following things.

Gambling

If you gamble the money, you might lose the entire tax refund — and then some. Gambling can become addictive, and as a habit it’s a wealth killer. The myth of the career gambler is — well, it’s a myth that you only see in movies.

Most people who gamble full time end up breaking even at best but more often they go broke. If you want to turn your refund into more money, put it into the stock market.

Partying Too Heartily

It’s one thing to celebrate a windfall and another to turn the celebration into an ongoing thing. Intoxication typically weakens your inhibitions and makes you prone to make decisions you might regret later.

Just ask anybody who’s gone shopping while drunk how they felt about their purchases the next day (unless, of course, they opted for the hair of the dog, which would be even more bad news for the pocketbook — don’t spend your tax refund this way).

Don’t confuse this particular warning one with any kind of moralistic trip about inebriation. Rather, this is a type of spending that can snowball quickly and in a bad way.

Contraband on the Dark Web

Speaking of which, might feel the temptation to go shopping on the Dark Web for — well whatever the vice might be that you have in mind, it’s easier than ever to get caught.

Although you supposedly enjoy anonymity when you surf this part of the internet, in reality there’s actually plenty of law enforcement types doing surveillance who manage to track people down this way.

Furthermore, even paying for things in cryptocurrency doesn’t necessarily afford the same degree of untraceability that is used to due to the advent of blockchain — the same technology that has been cutting down on fraud helps the authorities nail people buying illegal goods on the Dark Web.

Impulsive, Excessively Risky Investing

While investing your tax refund is always an astute move, rushing into any investment doesn’t bode well — especially under current conditions. With market volatility rising, professional investors and algorithmic trading make it hard for individual investors to get ahead — so the last thing you want to do is go overboard with risk right now.

For certain asset classes, prices can move against you faster than you might be able to unwind the position. Examples would include leveraged exchange traded funds, options, futures, any other type of derivative and even cryptocurrency exchange transactions.

Pay attention to the risk disclosures for anything you’re considering putting money into, and while you’re at it, read as much as you can about any investment before buying.Don't spend your tax refund on things you'll regret later.

Loan Collateral

Before you go take out a loan for anything, remember that borrowing costs have reached a ten-year high — in terms of interest rates. If you’re looking at mortgages or academic financial aid, an additional cost comes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The law capped the deductibility of mortgage interest to the first $750,000 in principal value; it made student interest nondeductible and also put a $10,000 ceiling on deductions of state and local income, sales, and property taxes.

New Car

Although using your tax refund as any kind of loan collateral is bad news, auto loans are a different headache than mortgages and student financial aid. You simply cannot rationalize this one an investment because autos depreciate quicker than most other types of assets you could buy.

Adding insult to injury, the prices have gotten a bit steeper because dealerships have drastically cut back on offering buyer incentives over the past year or so.

And with interest rates rising, financing criteria has gotten stricter so you may have to pony up additional funds just to make the down payment. Make do with the vehicle you already have and put the tax refund to more productive use. Or if the kind of work you do requires a new-looking vehicle, consider leasing instead of buying.

Loan It to Flakes

You might be feeling generous because of your windfall but try to think critically before saying “yes” to a request for money right around the time that tax refunds go out.

As noted already, eight in 10 households are getting refunds this year — so did the person who wants to borrow money from you already spend theirs?

If they didn’t get a refund at all, of course it’s a fallacy to presume they don’t have the means to repay a loan — but you might need to assume that you won’t see the money again.

Don’t Spend Your Tax Refund Foolishly

Rewarding yourself now and then can help you stick to a budget longer term, but if you go overboard on the indulgences you might regret it later.

If you have outstanding debt, make paying down the balances your first order of business. Then if you have any money left over from your tax refund after that, invest it or set up an emergency fund if you don’t have one already).

Readers, how much are you getting as a tax refund and what are your plans for the money?

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Learn more about taxes by checking out these other stories from our archives:

Last Minute St. Patrick’s Day Shopping at Costco

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St. Patrick's Day shopping at Costco
Last minute St. Patrick’s Day shopping at Costco might not be as fruitful as it would have if you gave yourself more time to get groceries. But there are still some great deals to be had on beer, plus the traditional Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage.

Costco has corned beef brisket priced at $3.29 per pound — this was the price at a Charlotte, NC, store; if you’re shopping somewhere that has a higher-than-average cost of living, you can expect to spend up to 35% more.

If you’re in the mood for corned beef but don’t want to spend that much on St. Patty’s Day dinner or you’re only cooking for one, Costco is also offering microwaveable corned beef and cabbage meals  for less than $10 apiece.

St. Patrick’s Day Shopping at Costco

Costco has some of the best deals on beer and other spirits. The most popular brand of brew for St. Patrick’s Day, Guinness, was priced at $27.99 for a 24-pack — again, this was at a store in Charlotte, NC, so you might find a different price if you shop elsewhere, due to the localization of inflation in grocery prices.

That said, here are some other amazing finds at that location:

  • New Belgium Variety Pack — This 24-pack  includes Fat Tire and VooDoo Ranger beers for $27.49.
  • Kirkland Craft Brew Variety Pack — Costco’s inhouse brand Kirkland has its own variety of craft beer; a 24-pack of it goes for $20.99.
  • Kirkland Light Beer — This is priced at $21.99 for a 48-pack, although there is no verdict on how it tastes.

Meanwhile, Costco doesn’t appear to stock St. Patrick’s Day decorations that we could find (they weren’t not listed on the retailer’s website nor could we find any at a physical store in Charlotte, NC). However, the warehouse retailer is clearly the place to go for great deals on cases of beer and traditional Irish corned beef with cabbage.

Readers, what do you have planned for St. Patrick’s Day?

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If you liked this article, you just might be interested in our massive archive of Costco stories — plus other pieces we’ve written about St. Patrick’s Day:

Forget the Nightcap. Drinking Alcohol before Bedtime Disrupts Sleep Patterns

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Study: Drinking alcohol before bedtime disrupts sleep patterns
Sleep is one of biology’s greatest mysteries: everyone requires it, but much is still unknown about this necessity. According to the Fiscal Times, revenue from the sleep industry will likely reach $32.4 billion in part because nearly one-third of Americans are sleep deprived. And the costs are high; many research studies have linked poor sleep with poorer health and stress outcomes, difficulty in learning and memory, as well as decreased performance in work or school settings. Lack of sleep can also hurt your wallet.

More dramatically, in a book titled The Family That Couldn’t Sleep by D. T. Max, Max introduces the reader to a family whose members suffer from fatal familial insomnia, an inherited prion disease that leads to progressively worsening insomnia and eventually death. As Max Hirschkowtitz, PhD told Fiscal Times, “If you don’t get the sleep you need, you don’t restore and refresh your brain and body.” In an interview for Mother Jones, Indre Viskontas also interviewed Matt Walker, a renowned sleep researcher, who made a list of nine reasons why a person should try his hardest to obtain a good night’s sleep.

Unsurprisingly, part of the billion-dollar industry involves educating people on how to improve their quality of sleep, but those who drink before sleeping might want to break this habit in particular. According to Eureka Alert, “alcohol initially acts as a sedative [and as such is associated with delta frequency EEGs)…but is later associated with sleep disruption.” In a study to be published online Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research the researchers recruited 24 participants and used EEG recordings to determine their brain frequencies.

As described in the study, alcohol increased slow 2-wave sleep delta power (SWS) during non-rapid eye movie (NREM). Delta brain activity is often linked to “the restorative aspects of deeper sleep.” However, frontal alpha power also increased. Unlike gamma activity, alpha activity occurs when the brain is “awake but quietly resting.” The presence of both types of brain activity causes sleep disruption.

Lead author, Christian L. Nicholas, writes, “Increases in SWS, which traditionally…[is]…a good thing, can be associated with more subtle changes including indicating disrupted sleep.” Thus, alcohol is not a very good sleep aid and may even interfere with your desire to achieve a good night’s sleep. One should not think that engaging in the occasional glass of wine is harmful. As Nicholas told Time, “…the effects can be cumulative, not only for alcohol use but on sleep disruption as well.”

This is not the first study to explore alpha-delta brain pattern differences. In fact, these patterns have been linked to irritability, headaches and daytime drowsiness.

(Photo courtesy of Lee Nachtigal)

Energy Drinks and Alcohol: a Cocktail Combination with Serious Consequences

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Study: mixing alcohol and energy drinks encourages binge drinking
A substance use research group at the Australian National University of Canberra has published research this week which shows the practice of mixing alcohol with caffeinated energy drinks can have serious side effects. This, after a study earlier this month indicated no alcohol is better for your heart, than small amounts of alcohol.

The study by researchers, Rebecca McKetin and Alice Coen, blind-tested people’s thirst and desire to drink more of two different drinks. The first was a mix of vodka, fruit juice and soda while the second drink was vodka with Red Bull, one of the many caffeinated pre-mixers on the market.

The results proved caffeinated drinks cause an increased desire for more alcohol because of the stimulant effects of caffeine. In other words, those who consumed the energy drinks wanted to physically and psychologically drink more alcohol than those who didn’t.

In an email to Reuters McKetin said,

“We normally think of alcohol as a depressant, but it also has a stimulant effect, and it is this stimulant effect that is most strongly related to how much we like alcohol, and whether we want to keep drinking…Energy drinks contain caffeine. Caffeine, being a stimulant, tends to bring out the stimulant effects of alcohol intoxication. It may be this that causes energy drinks to increase the desire to keep drinking alcohol.”

To many, the results of the study will seem logical. The thirstier you feel, the more you drink and conversely, the more fun you have, the more you drink. Unfortunately this cycle of consumption tends to veer into a downward spiral. When a woman reaches just four standard drinks in one sitting (and five for a man) they’re officially classified as binge drinkers, and they become vulnerable to more than just a hangover.

Binge drinking causes impaired judgment, which can translate into a whole list of negative consequences. Binge drinkers have an increased chance of getting hurt in car accidents, being abused physically or sexually, having a one night stand or being the victim of petty crime. And this is before you add the energy drink into the equation.

The CD warns that, “drinkers who consume alcohol with energy drinks are twice as likely as drinkers who do not, to report being taken advantage of sexually, to report taking advantage of someone else sexually, and to report riding with a driver who was under the influence of alcohol.”

Ultimately McKetin and Coen’s research may open the eyes of regulatory bodies who could restrict caffeinated drink sales. But it may be just as effective as waking up the 34% of the population who enjoy them.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Dorausch)

50% of Americans Have a Chronic Disease: CDC Reveals the Cost of Unhealthy Living

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CDC: 50% of Americans have a chronic disease
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have concluded chronic diseases and conditions are among the most common, and preventable, of all health problems. As of 2012, these diseases, including heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and arthritis affect about half of all adults living in the United States. It gets worse. A quarter of adults in the US have two or more of these chronic diseases. Obesity affects more than 33% of American adults, and 20% of American adolescents. Arthritis is the most common cause for disability, and diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure. These statistics are staggering, especially since there are many ways to prevent them from happening.

Many adults in the US admit to bad habits which lead to these chronic diseases. Not getting enough aerobic exercise or physical activity was common in over half of adults surveyed. The fruits and veggies your mom always told you to eat were reported to be consumed less than once a day in 30% of adults. Consuming too much sodium increases the risk of high blood pressure, and is eaten in large quantities by 90% of Americans. About half of American adults also have at least one of the following: uncontrolled high blood pressure, uncontrolled high LDL cholesterol, or are current smokers. All of these are a major risk factors for heart disease or increased chance of a stroke.

Smoking is also linked to more than 480,000 deaths a year, yet smoking is a daily occurrence for more than 42 million adults. Not only is it common in adults, but more than 3,200 children under the age of 18 smoke for the first time every day, and 2,100 youth and young adults become daily smokers as well.

Smoking isn’t entirely to blame for these deaths, as more than 88,000 deaths a year are caused by drinking too much alcohol. Binge drinking, the leading cause of these alcohol-related deaths, is common for the average American adult at least four times a month, with about 8 drinks per binge.

These highly preventable diseases not only cost lives, but there is a financial cost of billions in spending:

  • 84% of health care spending was for the 50% of the population with chronic diseases. That results in over $1.8 trillion spent for mostly preventable diseases (2006)
  • Heart disease cost an estimated $315.4 billion, and $193.4 billion of that was used only for direct medical costs (2010)
  • Cancer weighed in at $157 billion a year (2010)
  • The total estimated cost of diagnosed diabetes was $245 billion, with $176 billion in direct medical costs (2012)
  • Nearly $81 billion was spent for direct medical cost for arthritis, where $128 was spent in total (2003)
  • Obesity’s medical costs were estimated to be $147 billion (2008)
  • $289 billion a year is the economic cost due to smoking (2008)
  • $223.5 billion of economic costs comes from excessive drinking (2006)

Unhealthy living is both costly to your wallet and your life.

(Photo courtesy of Tony Alter)