A steady rise in long-term heavy drinking has led to a doubling of alcohol-related deaths among men over the past decade, according to official figures.
The study of “preventable mortality” found that the rate of alcohol-related deaths had risen sharply among women too, with two thirds more dying of diseases such as cirrhosis over the period.
The rise in alcohol-related deaths is in stark contrast to sharp falls in the rest of the top five “preventable causes of mortality”.
Lung cancer and other pulmonary diseases are both down by a third, while suicide is down by 14 per cent. The data were released in the Office for National Statistics’ quarterly survey of the nation’s health.
Alcohol Concern said that the biggest increase in alcohol-related deaths was among those aged 35 to 54, a generation of people who started drinking heavily in their youth and carried on into middle age.

Source: From The Times Online May 25, 2007