If you’re concerned about someone who drinks too much, ask a professional experienced in alcohol treatment for advice on how to approach that person. Alcohol consumption contributes to 2.6 million deaths each year globally as well as to the disabilities and poor health of millions of people. Overall, harmful use of alcohol is responsible for 4.7% of the global burden of disease. The death rates due to alcohol consumption per litre of alcohol consumed are highest in low-income countries and lowest in high-income countries. It doesn’t matter how much you drink – the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage. This regional workshop was planned to address the challenges of illicit tobacco trade and unrecorded alcohol consumption in the countries of the Region….

Can homes, schools and digital platforms drive young people’s alcohol consumption?

If you already alcohol and opiates dangers drink at low levels and continue to drink, risks for these issues appear to be low. Effective treatment options for substance use disorders exist, but treatment coverage remains incredibly low. The proportion of people in contact with substance use treatment services ranged from less than 1% to no more than 35% in 2019, in countries providing this data. Many people with alcohol use disorder hesitate to get treatment because they don’t recognize that they have a problem. An intervention from loved ones can help some people recognize and accept that they need professional help.

Health risks of alcohol use

• And the same goes for driving or if you need to be alert and able to react to changing situations.
• Too much alcohol affects your speech, muscle coordination and vital centers of your brain.
• Notably, 2 million of alcohol and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men.
• In the United States, moderate drinking for healthy adults is different for men and women.

This disorder also involves having to drink more to get the same effect or having withdrawal symptoms when you rapidly decrease or stop drinking. Alcohol use disorder includes a level of drinking that’s sometimes called alcoholism. Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance and has been classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer decades ago – this is the highest risk group, which also includes asbestos, radiation and tobacco. Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast cancer. Ethanol (alcohol) causes cancer through biological mechanisms as the compound breaks down in the body, which means that any beverage containing alcohol, regardless of its price and quality, poses a risk of developing cancer. The bottom line is that alcohol is potentially addictive, can cause intoxication, and contributes to health problems and preventable deaths.

Noncommunicable diseases progress monitor 2025

Other ways to get help include talking with a mental health professional or seeking help from a support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous or a similar type of self-help group. If your pattern of drinking results in repeated significant distress and problems functioning in your daily life, you likely have alcohol use disorder. However, even a mild disorder can escalate and lead to serious problems, so early treatment is important. Alcohol use disorder is a pattern of alcohol use that involves problems controlling your drinking, being preoccupied with alcohol or continuing to use alcohol even when it causes problems.

During pregnancy, drinking may cause the unborn baby to have brain damage and other problems. Despite this, the question of beneficial effects of alcohol has been a contentious issue in research for years. In the United States, people younger than age 21 are not legally able to drink alcohol. Heavy drinking also has been linked to intentional injuries, such as suicide, as well as accidental injury and death. Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health.

Alcohol use: Weighing risks and benefits

Alcohol use disorder can include periods of being drunk (alcohol intoxication) and symptoms of withdrawal. Total alcohol per capita consumption in the world population decreased slightly from 5.7 litres in 2010 to 5.5 litres in 2019. The highest levels of per capita consumption in 2019 were observed in the WHO European Region (9.2 litres) and the Region of Americas (7.5 litres). The SAFER initiative, launched globally in 2018, supports the implementation of high-impact strategies across the European Region. When it comes to alcohol, if you don’t drink, don’t start for health reasons.

Rates of current drinking were highest among 15–19-year-olds in the European region (45.9%) followed by the Americas (43.9%). Because denial is common, you may feel like you don’t have a problem with drinking. You might not recognize how much you drink or how many problems in your life are related to alcohol use. Listen to relatives, friends or co-workers when they ask you to examine your drinking habits or to seek help. Consider talking with someone who has had a problem with drinking but has stopped.

Surrogate and illegally produced alcohols can bring an extra health risk from toxic contaminants. The EU is the heaviest-drinking area globally, with 7 of the 10 countries with the highest per-capita alcohol consumption located within the EU. Despite progress in reducing alcohol consumption and related harms, the Region continues to face significant challenges, including high rates of alcohol-related deaths, particularly from cancer. The report highlights the urgent need to accelerate actions globally towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)  target 3.5 by 2030 by reducing alcohol and drug consumption and improving access to quality treatment for substance use disorders.

Nutrition and healthy eating

Here, over 200 million people in the Region are at risk of developing alcohol-attributable cancer. A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that 2.6 million deaths per year were attributable to alcohol consumption, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths, and 0.6 million deaths to psychoactive drug use. Notably, 2 million of alcohol and 0.4 million of drug-attributable deaths were among men. In 2022, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, with support from the European Commission, initiated the Evidence into Action Alcohol Project (EVID-ACTION), which is contributing to delivering on the objectives of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan.

Symptoms

A critical aspect of the Region’s approach is addressing the commercial determinants of health, particularly the influence of the alcohol industry on public health policy. This emphasizes the importance of protecting policy-making processes from industry interference that aims to delay or weaken public health measures that would reduce alcohol consumption. To combat this, WHO advocates for transparency in policy development, the exclusion of the alcohol industry from policy discussions, and the implementation of regulations to limit the industry’s influence on public health. If you feel that you sometimes drink too much alcohol, or your drinking is causing problems, or if your family is concerned about your drinking, talk with your health care provider.

WHO has identified that the most cost-effective actions to reduce the harmful use of alcohol include increasing taxes on alcoholic beverages, enforcing restrictions on exposure to alcohol advertising, and restrictions on the physical availability of retailed alcohol. In addition, enforcing drink driving countermeasures and securing access to screening, brief interventions, and treatment are effective and ethically sound interventions. The most cost-effective interventions are at the focus of WHO-led SAFER initiative aimed at providing support for Member States in reducing the harmful use of alcohol.

Be sure to ask your healthcare professional about what’s right for your health and safety. That usually means four or more drinks within two hours for women and five or more drinks within two hours for men. In the past, moderate drinking was thought to be linked with a lower risk of dying from heart disease and possibly diabetes. After more analysis of the research, that doesn’t seem to be the case. In general, a healthy diet and physical activity have much greater health benefits than alcohol and have been more extensively studied. For example, any amount of drinking increases the risk of breast cancer and colorectal cancer.

• The 2010 WHO Global strategy to reduce the harmful use of alcohol and the 2022 WHO Global action plan are the most comprehensive international alcohol policy documents, endorsed by WHO Member States, that provides guidance on reducing the harmful use of alcohol at all levels.
• In 2019, the worldwide total consumption was equal to 5.5 litres of pure alcohol per person 15 years and older.
• In many of today’s societies, alcoholic beverages are a routine part of the social landscape for many in the population.
• For men, heavy drinking means more than four drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks a week.

Harmful use of alcohol is accountable for 6,9 % and 2.0% of the global burden of disease for males and females respectively. Alcohol is the leading risk factor for premature mortality and disability among those aged 20 to 39 years, accounting for 13% of all deaths in this age group. Disadvantaged and especially vulnerable populations have higher rates of alcohol-related death and hospitalization. For women, more than three drinks on any day or more than seven drinks a week is heavy drinking. For men, heavy drinking means more than four drinks on any day or more than 14 drinks a week. In the United States, moderate drinking for healthy adults is different for men and women.