High risk of death from vodka

High vodka consumption in Russia shortens life expectancy

31/01/2014

Vodka shortens the lives of many Russians. The excessive consumption of alcohol in the Russian population means that, in particular, the life expectancy of men is drastically reduced. While almost 90 percent of men reach the age of 55 in many Western European countries, in Russia there are only about 75 percent. A recent study has reviewed the relationship between reduced life expectancy and men's vodka consumption.

The research team around Professor David Zaridze from the Russian Cancer Research Center in Moscow reported in the journal „The Lancet“ by a large-scale study with 151,000 participants, which examined the vodka consumption of the population and possible connections with life expectancy. „This large prospective study provides further evidence that vodka is one of the major causes of the high risk of premature death of Russian adults“, write Zaridze and colleagues. However, the problem is already well known, but effective measures to control alcohol consumption in Russia are still lacking. Furthermore, vodka is part of everyday life and is usually consumed from normal drinking glasses (0.2 liter).

Vodka consumption increases premature mortality risk
In the context of their study, the Russian scientists carried out a separate evaluation for 57,361 male subjects, all of whom were smokers and had no pre-existing conditions. The likelihood of their dying at the age of 35 to 54 years was around 16 percent among those who drank less than a bottle of vodka a week, Zaridze and colleagues report. For the subjects with a vodka consumption of one to two bottles per week, a premature mortality risk of 20 percent was determined and from a consumption of more than three bottles of vodka per week, this was 35 percent. Accordingly, alcohol consumption accounts for a significant proportion of the low life expectancy of Russian men, of whom only about 25 percent reach the age of 55 today. Their life expectancy is almost 65 years, which is alarmingly low by international standards. In Germany men are on average around 77 years old.

Countermeasures demanded by politicians
The figures show the range of excessive vodka consumption in Russia, but the question remains of appropriate countermeasures. Previously introduced laws have shown only limited effect here. Vodka continues to enjoy high popularity as a Russian national drink. Even the stricter alcohol controls already enforced in 2006 could only produce a minor effect here. The researchers therefore advocated a much more comprehensive package of measures and other restrictive approaches to reduce vodka consumption and thus significantly increase the life expectancy of the population. In Mikhail Gorbachev's time, it had succeeded in reducing alcohol consumption by 25 percent, but in the coming years vodka consumption skyrocketed again. As a result, the deaths of young men also moved up again. On several occasions, scientific studies have already pointed to the clear links, assuming that nearly 50 percent of the deaths of men under the age of 55 could be related to excessive alcohol consumption. Now the policy is required to take countermeasures. (Fp)