Alcohol problem 15000 deaths from alcohol consumption

Legal drug: Germany has an alcohol problem

06/25/2014

As for alcohol, Germany is a problem nation. As the Federal Statistical Office calculated on the occasion of World Drug Day, in 2012 14,551 people died in this country as a result of excessive alcohol consumption. That's almost four times as many dead as in traffic.

Four times as many victims as in traffic
As the Federal Statistical Office calculated on the occasion of the International World Drug Day on this Thursday (26 June), in Germany in 2012 14,551 people died as a result of excessive alcohol consumption. In the same year, 3,827 people were killed in traffic accidents, the statisticians said on Tuesday. Thus drinking in Germany demands almost four times as many victims as road traffic. It is not easy to find out the number of alcohol deaths from the cause of death statistics. For your „Number of the week“ Statisticians had to seek advice from a panel of experts. This lists more than two dozen alcohol-related causes of death - from alcoholic gastritis to cirrhosis.

Deaths mainly from liver damage
In general, drinking alcohol causes numerous health problems. For example, it can lead to high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, lipid metabolism disorders or osteoporosis. An increased risk for some types of cancer is associated with it and the weakening of the immune system increases the susceptibility to infectious diseases. According to the Federal Office, the most common cause of death among alcoholics was liver damage with 7,812 cases. The pancreas is the second most affected. But also myocardium, lungs or nervous system can be so severely damaged until they fail. At almost 4,000 deaths was only „dependence syndrome“ called as cause. With this diagnostic code all possible consequential damages - including suicide - are encrypted unspecifically.

Drinkers and smokers are the drug dead in Germany
The German Center for Addiction Issues (DHS) assumes a higher number of alcoholic deaths. The Federal Statistical Office only counts those deaths in which the doctor recognizes an association with alcohol and notes on the death certificate. In contrast, a study by the University of Greifswald in 2002 opted for a broader perspective, and reached nearly 80,000 alcohol deaths per year. Regardless of whether it's 15,000 or 80,000: „Drinkers and smokers - these are the drug-related deaths in Germany. After that, nothing comes for a long time“, says Raphael Gaßmann, Managing Director of DHS in Hamm, Westphalia, according to a dpa announcement. „Germany is a leading country in alcohol consumption and therefore also an alcohol problem nation.“

In Germany, more is drunk than in other countries
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), much more is drunk in Germany than in other countries. Thus, every German over the age of 15 years consumes an average of 11.8 liters of pure alcohol per year, which corresponds to about 500 bottles of beer. With 6.2 liters of pure alcohol, alcohol consumption worldwide is not even half as high. And in Europe, the average of 10.9 liters of pure alcohol is lower annually. For the search expert Gassmann, the main reason is the low price. In Germany one could already drank for the equivalent of a pocket money. In addition, addicts are made easy in this country by having alcohol available at kiosks or gas stations around the clock. In addition, manufacturers may promote alcohol here and the protection of minors is often only on paper.

Men drink twice as much as women
Gaßmann thinks that something could be done on all of these points so that fewer people die of alcohol: raising taxes, prohibiting advertising, no sales at night and no alcohol for teens. „I'm sure if we went the same way as we did with tobacco, we would soon have less alcoholic dead.“ Men, in particular, could save their lives because, according to WHO, they drink more than twice as much as women. According to the Federal Statistical Office, of the more than 14,500 alcoholic deaths in 2012, almost 11,000 were male. The DHS is also preparing a new one „consumption patterns“ Worried, especially among young people: It is hardly consumed during the week alcohol, but on the weekend will „Binge drinking“ for leisure fun.

Millions of Germans with alcohol problems
According to the WHO, beer accounts for more than half of consumption in Germany, followed by wine (28 percent) and hard drinks (18 percent). 7.4 million adults in this country have alcohol problems according to the Epidemiological Search Survey. According to it, 4.02 million have risky alcohol consumption, another 1.61 million alcohol abuse and 1.77 million adults are alcohol dependent. But there is also good news: consumption and deaths are declining slightly According to the WHO, the per capita consumption of alcohol in Germany ten years ago was still about one liter higher. And the time series at the Federal Statistical Office also shows that fewer people are dying from alcohol-related illnesses than ten years ago, when there were between 16,000 and 17,000 alcohol deaths each year. The per capita consumption in Germany will decline in the future, says the WHO. (Ad)