Alcohol-related deaths have doubled in the U.S.
NEW YORK - The number of alcohol-related deaths in the United States has more than doubled since the start of the century.
The government report "Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research" found alcohol-related deaths a year between 1999 and 2017 doubled from 35,914 to 72,558.
Researches monitored data from death certificates for 18-years. Alcohol jumped from 17-percent to more than 50-percent as a reason for death.
In 2017 alone, 2.6 percent of deaths in the United States were alcohol-related. Health experts say about half of those deaths were from liver disease or alcohol overdose.
Even if those numbers sound alarming, researchers believe the number might be undercounted.
While death certificates are the best way to track deaths, they usually fail to highlight the role alcohol plays in a death.
Rates of alcohol‐related deaths were highest among males between 45 and 74 years of age.