this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2023

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Alcohol overuse causes 140,000 American deaths annually. Why is it so undertreated? (www.vox.com)

submitted 10 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

58 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Medications can help the 1 in 12 people who suffer from alcohol use disorder. But most will never be treated.

There is something that kills more Americans every year than drug overdoses, than guns, than car accidents. It’s legal, doesn’t require a background check to buy, is widely advertised, and if you’re 21, you can probably buy it at your corner store. It’s called alcohol.

While cold beers, glasses of wine, and hard liquor cocktails are often treated as end-of-the-workday or weekend indulgences, alcohol is technically a psychoactive, addictive drug, one linked to over 50 fatal conditions, including heart disease; breast, pancreatic, and stomach cancers; liver disease; hypertension; and stroke. It contributes to the death of 140,000 people in the US annually, making it one of the leading causes of preventable death in the country.

More and more research supports the conclusion that even light drinking — that is, less than 15 drinks a week for men or eight drinks a week for women — can contribute to an increased risk for heart disease and cancers. More recent medical recommendations in countries like Canada have increasingly tightened, moving toward the idea that there is no truly safe level of alcohol consumption.

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[–] jordanlund@lemmy.world 48 points 10 months ago (5 children)

Because binge drinking isn't just accepted, it's encouraged? From fraternities and sororities, to football tailgating, to Super-Bowl parties, to Mardi Gras and Saint Patrick's Day, the public perception is if you aren't getting shitfaced, you're doing it wrong.

But there is some good news, I guess:

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/beer-drinking-america-falls-lowest-level-generation-rcna131478

"For the first time since 1999, he said, beer shipments were on track to fall below 200 million barrels."

Article talks about the variety of sugary alcohol drinks pulling from beer, but I expect legal weed is taking a share as well.

[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 18 points 10 months ago (9 children)

Weed. Weed weed. Weed weed weed weed.

That's my take, anyway.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 20 points 10 months ago (4 children)

MILLIONS die from weed overuse. That's what the D.A.R.E. officer told me.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 15 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Smoking it still is terrible for your lungs though.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes of course. A lot of things in life involve a balancing act of weighing pros and cons, and then trial and error.

I was one of the unlucky few who experienced suicidal thoughts when they put me on sertraline, but it's a substance that helps more people than it harms, so it's not the first thing I'd mention if someone were depressed.

I see weed as similar. Personally, I'm not the biggest fan of how it makes me feel, and there are some risks and side effects (relatively minor compared to alcohol, of course), but it helps far more people than it harms. It's really improved the quality of life for my husband with his PTSD, for example, and its side effects are actually far less unpleasant than the four meds he was on prior to the provider prescribing cannabis.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Don't get me wrong, I'm in no way advocating banning weed. All drugs should be legal anyways. What someone wants to do with their body is none of my business, as long as it doesn't harm me or others.

I should have clarified that alternative use of marijuana is a better substitute than smoking weed or drinking alcohol. I just don't like that a lot of people assume smoking it daily is somehow healthy for you.... it's like smoking tobacco, it's bad period. It's a vice so by all means do it how you want but there seems to be this underlying myth that people think it's not harmful at all.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I just don’t like that a lot of people assume smoking it daily is somehow healthy for you

Literally no one thinks inhaling smoke is healthy. This isn't a thing people believe. It's just such a red herring when introduced in a conversation about the ravages of hard drugs like alcohol.

It's like pointing out that both carrots and snickers contain sugar.

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

You apparently haven't been following along with the conversation....a LOT of people think it's completely fine. The trees subreddit was filled with people like this. They're logic was that they're not smoking tobacco and it's fine because no one has linked smoking marijuana with lung cancer.

[–] sndrtj@feddit.nl 2 points 10 months ago

The difference is that, there are ways of consuming cannabis that don't involve smoking. Edibles are a thing, and so are vaporizers (tiny convenction ovens that vaporize the cannabinioids but don't produce any nasty combustion products).

With alcohol, there is no "safer" way of consuming it. The psychoactive compound itself is physically far more damaging than THC is.

[–] circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 10 months ago

Yes. Edibles all the way.

[–] naeap@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Dry vaping seems to not bring many health issues with it - at least none that I know of.

Also tinctures or inferior edibles are an option
Why inferior? Time to take effect, hard to dosage correctly and THC is metabolized differently when solved in fat.
As alcohol solution you can dosage per drop and it hits practically immediately - pretty much as fast as alcohol orally does

[–] SupraMario@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Isn't vaping it not burning the plant but just vaporizing the oils? I have no clue on that, if so I'd say it's probably way safer than burning the plant.

[–] naeap@sopuli.xyz 1 points 10 months ago

Yep, exactly

[–] smooth_tea@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Terrible is a bit relative. Cannabis smokers have a smaller chance of developing lung cancer and a higher lung capacity than non smokers. But yes it has downsides.

[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago

The DARE officer also impregnated a teenager in my school.

[–] lars@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I died after doing only one line of weed. Educate yourself. I’m literally shaking.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 months ago

I’m literally shaking

It must be the weed!

[–] PeterPoopshit@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Everyone that's ever smoked weed will die someday. Weed has a 100% mortality rate. Earth has had more human deaths than than any planet in history. It's also the only planet with weed.

[–] LinkOpensChest_wav@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 10 months ago

Lol fr though. I always find it suspicious when people insist on talking about all the bad side effects of weed. Imagine every time someone mentions that aspirin can help with pain, there are immediately 5 people telling you about how it can cause bleeding ulcers.

Actually, it would make more sense with acetaminophen/paracetamol. Wanna talk about awful effects on the body, RIP liver.

[–] OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

You don't say much my friend, but when you do it's to the point, and I salute you for it.

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[–] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 13 points 10 months ago

Yep. Cultural.

It's a joke in movies.

It's played in commercials.

People comfortably share stories about their "binging".

[–] sour@kbin.social 4 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

is socially accepted way to poison yourself

who use

[–] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

Ahem. "Sugar forward" if you please. It's fancy.

[–] tacosanonymous@lemm.ee 2 points 10 months ago

It has a huge lobbying group and too many corps make too much money. I always had hope something would happen kinda like they did with tobacco.

[–] markr@lemmy.world 39 points 10 months ago

Booze advertising should be banned. We banned tobacco advertising. It actually helped reduce smoking.

[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I still don't understand why alcohol is immune to FDA regs requiring nutritional info on the products.

Oh wait no I don't, excessive lobbying alongside a misclassification and lack of common sense+critical thinking. All the American classics.

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Because it falls under a completely different agency….

The bureau of ALCOHOL, tobacco, and firearms.

It was separate starting with the bureau of Prohibition which was created in 1919, before the FDA was created in 1927. Before then it was just the bureau of chemistry.

[–] pozbo@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

You are correct!....

The fact that it falls under a different agency is the issue I'm getting at. We ingest alcohol and it has a direct negative affect on our health, I wish it was regulated alongside the other borderline toxic shit we ingest like corn syrup and food colorings.

Would be nice to know how many calories or carbs are in the drinks from a casual consumer standpoint anyway.

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I agree it should fall under the FDA today, but with everything else going on, restructuring both the FDA and ATF is pretty low on the list of things to do.

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[–] finestnothing@lemmy.world 26 points 10 months ago

Alcohol is a $200 billion a year industry in the US alone, they'll throw more than enough money into lobbying to make sure there is as little restriction on alcohol as possible no matter how many people get sick or die

[–] DessertStorms@kbin.social 16 points 10 months ago

Why is it so undertreated?

Money.

How is this seriously still a question?

[–] tiredofsametab@kbin.social 13 points 10 months ago (6 children)

The US healthcare system being an expensive mess, mental healthcare being stigmatized, and a number of other issues prevent people from seeking care. There are also many who don't realize they need it.

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[–] Ghyste@sh.itjust.works 7 points 10 months ago

Because alcohol makes people a lot of money.

[–] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 3 points 10 months ago

Alcoholism is the disease that tells you you don't have a disease.

[–] HenriVolney@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 months ago

Boys, it's time to start a war on booze! First target: Scotland

[–] vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

because it keeps people off the marijuanas!!!!

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