Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 17 January 2020
U.S. drinking more now than just before Prohibition

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Ameri-
cans are drinking more
now than when Prohibition
was enacted. What's more,
it's been rising for two de-
cades, and it's not clear
when it will fall again.
That's the picture painted
by federal health statistics,
which show a rise in per-
person consumption and
increases in emergency
room visits, hospitalizations
and deaths tied to drinking.
The stats aren't all bad.
Drinking among teenag-
ers is down. And there are
signs that some people are
taking alcohol seriously —
such as the "Dry January"
movement making the
rounds on social media.
But overall, public health
experts say America still
has a drinking problem.
"Consumption has been In this June 16, 2016, file photo, bottles of wine are displayed during a tour of a state liquor store, in Salt Lake City.
going up. Harms (from al- Associated Press
cohol) have been going and, later, a national ban fornia-based Public Health from over two decades to ing up most dramatically
up," said Dr. Tim Naimi, an on the manufacture and Institute's Alcohol Research search for mention of alco- among women, other re-
alcohol researcher at Bos- sale of alcohol. In 1919, Group. hol. The numbers were low- search has found.
ton University. "And there's Congress passed the 18th WHY IS ALCOHOL CON- er, at a little under 73,000 in Researchers say there's
not been a policy response Amendment, instituting SIDERED A PUBLIC HEALTH 2017. The researchers said been a change in cultural
to match it." the ban. It went into effect PROBLEM? death certificates can be attitudes toward drinking,
HOW MUCH DO AMERI- on January 17, 1920 — 100 Excessive drinking is associ- incomplete, and their num- including among many
CANS DRINK? years ago, this Friday — ated with chronic dangers ber is likely an undercount. women. Internet memes
In the late 1910s, just be- and lasted 13 years. such as liver cancer, high The more important find- popular with stressed-out
fore Congress banned the In 1934, a year after Prohi- blood pressure, stroke and ing, other researchers said, moms call wine "mommy
sale and manufacture of bition was repealed, per- heart disease. Drinking by was that the number of juice" and joke about it be-
alcoholic beverages, each capita consumption was pregnant women can lead alcohol-related deaths ing "wine o'clock."
American teen and adult under 1 gallon. It's been up to miscarriage, stillbirth or had doubled since 1999, ISN'T A LITTLE BIT OF WINE
was downing just under 2 and down since then. The birth defects. And health and the death rate had GOOD FOR YOU?
gallons of alcohol a year apex was a heavy-drinking officials say alcohol is a risen 50%. Some or much of Wine acquired a bit of a
on average. spell in the 1970s and 1980s, factor in as many as one- that may be related to the halo after some research-
These days it's about 2.3 when U.S. per-person alco- third of serious falls among increasingly deadly drugs ers observed that French
gallons, according to fed- hol consumption was 2.75 the elderly. used in the overdose epi- people had lower rates
eral calculations. That gallons. It's also a risk to others — demic, since many people of heart disease despite
works out to nearly 500 It went down in the mid- through drunken driving or drink while taking drugs, generally consuming high
drinks, or about nine per 1980s, amid growing atten- alcohol-fueled violence. said Aaron White, the levels of saturated fat. This
week. tion to deaths from drunk- And research based on study's lead researcher. "French Paradox" triggered
Historians say drinking was en driving and after Con- surveys suggests that more WHAT'S DRIVING THE IN- studies that suggested
heaviest in the early 1800s, gress passed a law raising than half of the alcohol CREASES? drinking a glass or two of
with estimates that in 1830 the drinking age to 21. But sold in the U.S. is consumed About three-quarters of red wine may have some
the average U.S. adult it began climbing again in during episodes of binge alcohol-related deaths are benefits for heart health.
downed the equivalent of the mid-1990s. drinking. in men. But increasingly, other re-
7 gallons a year. "I think people sort of for- More than 88,000 Ameri- But drinking among wom- searchers have poked
That waned as the temper- got all the problems (with cans die each year as a en — particularly binge holes in the hypothesis, ar-
ance movement pushed alcohol)," said William Kerr, result of excessive drink- drinking — has been a ma- guing that lifestyle, diet and
for moderation, abstinence senior scientist at the Cali- ing, a figure higher than jor driver of the increases in other factors probably de-
the opioid-related deaths alcohol statistics. serve far more credit. After
seen in a current drug over- White's study found that the climbing for 24 years, U.S.
dose epidemic, according female death rate jumped wine consumption dipped
to the Centers for Disease 85%, while the male rate last year, according to the
Control and Prevention. rose 39%. The highest alco- research firm IWSR Drinks
This month, researchers at hol-related death rates for Market Analysis.
the National Institute on women were among those "I think the halo has tilted or
Alcohol Abuse and Alco- ages 55 to 74, that research fallen off," Naimi said.
holism released a differ- found. But increases were "But," he added, "for most
ent calculation of alco- seen in younger women, people who drink alcohol,
hol-related deaths. They too. health is not their primary
scanned death certificates Binge drinking is swing- consideration."q