COVID-19 pandemic witnesses surge in high blood pressure deaths attributable to heavy alcohol consumption, according to CDC findings
Drown Your Sorrows, Lose Your Life
It seems that binge drinking during the bloody COVID-19 pandemic has led to an alarming surge in high blood pressure deaths, according to a chilling report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In the grim report, published this week, researchers found that deaths from excessive alcohol use-induced hypertension skyrocketed by a staggering 51.6% in 2020-2021, compared to the 2016-2017 period. This translates to approximately 21,137 annual deaths, contrasted with 13,941 for the respective timeframes.
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID outbreak a global pandemic back in March 2020. Interestingly, the WHO announced the end of the pandemic emergency just last May 2023.
The report also revealed a startling gender divide, with more than 60% of hypertension deaths linked to excessive drinking occurring among females - 61.2% in 2016-2017, and 62.8% in 2020-2021.
During the 2020-2021 timeframe, excessive alcohol use accounted for 1 in 5 hypertension deaths among females and 1 in 8 among males.
The report gathered data from adults aged 20 and older using the CDC's Alcohol-Related Disease Impact (ARDI) tool and mortality data from the National Vital Statistics System.
The report came at a time when U.S. alcohol-related deaths have been spiraling nationwide. Excessive drinking is a leading preventable cause of death in the United States, with about 178,000 people perishing annually due to excessive boozing. Hypertension deaths linked to drinking, as analyzed in this report, are but a fraction of overall deaths caused by alcohol.
Previous research has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to an increase in stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths, a trend that didn't dissipate even as things slowly returned to normal. A study conducted in 2024 discovered that drinking increases from 2018 to 2020 endured into the following year.
This report is one of the last to be published by the CDC's Division of Population Health team that studied alcohol mortality before they were axed due to sweeping cuts by the Trump administration. Notably, the report drops just a week before the government is poised to unveil updated dietary guidelines, including revisions to long-standing recommendations on alcohol consumption.
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Sara MoniuszkoSara Moniuszko is a health and lifestyle reporter at ourNews.com. Before, she penned for USA Today, where she contributed to the launch of the newspaper's wellness vertical. Now, she covers breaking and trending news for our News' HealthWatch.
- The shocking surge in high blood pressure deaths due to excessive alcohol use, as detailed in the CDC report, highlights a pressing health crisis related to alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The World Health Organization's announcement of the end of the COVID-19 pandemic emergency doesn't negate the ongoing health news, such as the ongoing increase in alcohol-related deaths in the United States.
- As the government prepares to reveal updated dietary guidelines, attention should also focus on the role of nutrition in maintaining mental and health-and-wellness, given the impact of stress-related drinking and alcohol-related deaths during the pandemic, as shown in numerous studies.
