Alcohol poisoning happens if you drink a large enough amount of alcohol in so short a time that your body can't process it before it poisons you. You drink yourself to death. And about six Americans died this way every day in the United States, on average, from 2010 to 2012.
About 2,200 people drink themselves to death in the U.S. each year, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This report on alcohol poisoning is based on information from the National Vital Statistics System for 2010 to 2012, and may actually underestimate the number of deaths, the CDC noted.
The effect of drinking too much alcohol too quickly is the shutdown of critical areas of your brain, the important parts that control breathing and heart rate, according to the CDC.
Alcohol poisoning is a consequence of serious binge drinking, which is defined as drinking four or more alcoholic drinks on one occasion if you are a woman or five drinks if you are a man. More than 38 million Americans binge drink an average of four times a month. The bigger the binge-in other words, the more alcohol drunk faster--the greater the risk of death from alcohol poisoning.
The CDC report found that three out of four people who die of alcohol poisoning are between the ages of 35 and 64. Three out of four are men. Most people who die this way are white and non-Hispanic, but Native Americans have more deaths by alcohol poisoning per million people.
Alcoholism was identified as a factor in only 30% of deaths due to alcohol poisoning, according to the report.
Alaska has by far the greatest death toll from alcohol poisoning, with 46.5 deaths per million Alaskans. Alabama has the least, with 5.3 alcohol poisoning deaths per million Alabamans.
The report notes that the best way to prevent or reduce the incidence of alcohol poisoning is by supporting programs and policies that reduce binge drinking.
