TOO MANY DOUBLES –
July 23, 2025 – 178,000 people die from excessive drinking each year. The increase is tied to four groups that make up a greater share of heavy drinkers than they did two decades ago: Women, adults ages 45 and older, people living in poverty, and those with metabolic syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome refers to a number of conditions, including high blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol, that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes.
Exactly why these groups are drinking more remains unclear. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine’s Dr. Peter Martin previously told NBC News that “it’s become more and more socially acceptable for women to drink as much as men” and George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told The New York Times that he believed older Americans are even less “likely” to understand the hazards of alcohol.
