Health
Alcohol deaths have more than doubled in recent years, especially among women
No amount of alcohol is good for the human body, previous research has shown — and now a new study has linked it to a rising number of deaths.
Over the course of two decades — from 1999 to 2020 — the number of alcohol-related deaths nearly doubled, according to a study from Florida Atlantic University (FAU)’s Schmidt College of Medicine.
Researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research (WONDER), finding that alcohol mortality rates went from 10.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2020.
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The biggest surge — a fourfold increase — was seen in people between the ages of 25 and 34.
The results were published in The American Journal of Medicine.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommends no more than one drink per day for women and anyone over the age of 65, and no more than two drinks per day for men. (iStock)
“Health care providers and their patients should be aware that in the U.S. as well as most populations throughout the world, individuals who consume moderate to large amounts of alcohol have the highest risks of premature mortality and morbidity,” study author Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., a professor of medicine at the FAU Schmidt College of Medicine, told Fox News Digital.
The main causes of alcohol-related death were cardiovascular disease — primarily due to heart attacks and strokes — as well as certain “common and serious cancers” as well as cirrhosis of the liver, Hennekens said.
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“Chronic, heavy alcohol consumption is also a major contributor to hospitalizations in state facilities due to a variety of deleterious outcomes, including alcoholic cirrhosis and alcoholic dementia,” he added.
Obesity and diabetes also increased the risk of alcohol-related deaths, the study found.
What amount is harmful?
The amount of alcohol consumption can have a significant impact on mortality risk, Hennekens noted.
“The difference between drinking small and moderate to large amounts of alcohol may mean a large difference between preventing and causing premature deaths,” the researcher said. “Liver damage is an immediate effect of alcohol consumption.”
The number of alcohol-related deaths nearly doubled between 1999 and 2020, the study found. (iStock)
Dr. Ken Spielvogel, senior medical advisor for Carrara Treatment Wellness & Spa in Los Angeles, agreed that larger amounts of alcohol cause increased risks of hypertension, stroke, heart failure and other cardiac complications.
Anything more than one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men can have “dramatic harmful effects,” he said — especially when combined with obesity and other co-morbidities.
The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommends no more than one drink per day for women and anyone over the age of 65, and no more than two drinks per day for men.
Rise in alcohol deaths among women
Although men had the highest mortality rates overall, women saw the “largest proportional rise,” according to the study findings, with deaths going from 4.8 per 100,000 in 1999 to 12 in 2020.
Dr. Adam Scioli, chief medical officer at Caron Treatment Centers in Pennsylvania, said he was not surprised by the study results.
“Women progress more rapidly to developing alcohol use disorder and its associated health consequences.”
“These findings are consistent with what we’ve been seeing clinically for the last decade – increases in severe diseases and co-morbidities related to alcohol use,” Scioli, who was not involved in the study, told Fox News Digital.
This has been especially true among women, he noted.
“Liver damage is an immediate effect of alcohol consumption,” one of the researchers said. (iStock)
“We’ve seen a significant increase in women — especially those between the ages of 20 and 55 — entering treatment at Caron in liver failure and on the list for liver transplant,” the expert said.
There has been a “dramatic increase” in the consumption of alcohol among women since the 90s, according to Scioli, which was accelerated during the pandemic.
He named a number of potential drivers of that increase, including the rise of “wine culture,” the marketing of alcohol to women and the infiltration of alcohol into family spaces — all of which put women at greater risk of “significant health consequences.”
Gender differences in alcohol effects
Women and men process alcohol differently due to their biology, Scioli noted.
“Because women have less alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activity – an enzyme in the stomach and liver that helps break down alcohol – women are more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol on the liver, heart and brain,” the doctor said.
Women are also more likely to suffer the health impacts of alcohol use sooner than men.
“We call it the ‘telescoping’ effect, which means women progress more rapidly to develop alcohol use disorder and its associated health consequences,” Scioli said.
Women are more likely to suffer the health impacts of alcohol use sooner than men, researchers found. (iStock)
Specifically, alcohol use puts women at greater risk of cirrhosis, alcohol-related liver diseases, congestive heart failure, heart attack and stroke, he noted.
“Chronic alcohol use can also increase the risk of breast cancers and cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver and colon,” Scioli added.
Spielvogel also pointed out the rise in obesity in the U.S. across all age groups and all genders.
“The combination of an increase in alcohol consumption on top of an epidemic of obesity exposes women to higher alcohol-related mortality,” he told Fox News Digital.
Potential limitations
Experts pointed out some potential limitations of the study.
“It is an analysis of cross-sectional data,” noted Spielvogel.
“There may be bias in analyzing this mix of population in a non-prospective randomized fashion, which is the gold standard for scientific research but not possible for analyzing this data,” he went on.
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“Performing an analysis of a variety of cultures and age groups can lead to bias and inaccurate conclusions as well.”
Scioli noted that the main limitation of the study is that it is based on public health data — “which means it may actually be an under-representation of the problem.”
A call for change
Based on the findings from the study, the researchers call for “tailored interventions” to help curb alcohol-related deaths.
They also recommend additional research to help shape public health policies.
Experts call for earlier interventions to identify those in need of assessment for a potential substance use disorder. (iStock)
“To mitigate these risks, screening for alcohol use in primary care settings is essential,” Hennekens said.
Scioli agreed, calling for earlier intervention by health care professionals to identify individuals, especially women, who may have problematic drinking and refer them for assessment for a potential substance use disorder.
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“We also need to make it easier and acceptable for individuals to get the help they need,” he added.
“Finally, we need to normalize sobriety and provide greater support to people who don’t drink alcohol.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association requesting comment.
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A new injectable therapy is showing positive results in reducing melanoma throughout a five-year period.
The personalized mRNA cancer therapy, called intismeran autogene, combined with the cancer immunotherapy drug KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab), is a collaboration between Merck and Moderna.
The results from the phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 27.
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After about a five-year follow-up, the combo drug was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone.
The researchers analyzed data from 157 patients with high-risk stage 3 and 4 melanoma whose cancer had been removed via surgery. The participants were split into two groups — one received the combo therapy and the other only received pembrolizumab, according to a press release.
The therapy was found to reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence or death by 49% compared to pembrolizumab alone after a five-year follow-up. (iStock)
The findings revealed that the combination group saw benefits that were “sustained and durable over time.”
Intismeran autogene is designed using mutations identified in a patient’s own tumor, with the intention of teaching the immune system what the cancer looks like so that it can recognize and attack it.
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According to the researchers, intismeran is “well-tolerated” with a “manageable” safety profile.
The most commonly cited side effects of the personalized mRNA vaccine plus KEYTRUDA were fatigue, injection-site pain, chills, fever and headache. The researchers reported no new long-term safety concerns and no severe vaccine-related adverse events.
The combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study — the final confirmation stage.
Patients with late-stage melanoma have a “significant risk” of cancer recurrence, according to an expert. (iStock)
In a Merck press release from January, Kyle Holen, MD, Moderna’s senior vice president and head of development, oncology and therapeutics, noted that this data highlights the “potential of a prolonged benefit … in patients with resected high-risk melanoma.”
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“We continue to invest in our platform in oncology because of encouraging outcomes like these, which illustrate mRNA’s potential in cancer care,” he said.
Dr. Marjorie Green, senior vice president and head of oncology, global clinical development at Merck Research Laboratories, also commented that for many patients with stage 3 or 4 melanoma, there is a “significant risk of recurrence following surgery.”
Researchers confirmed that the combination therapy is currently being evaluated in a phase 3 study. (iStock)
“As such, demonstrating the longer-term potential of intismeran autogene and KEYTRUDA to reduce the risk of recurrence for certain patients with melanoma is a meaningful milestone,” she said.
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The company cited encouraging five-year follow-up data and pointed to upcoming late-stage INTerpath trial results with Moderna in several hard-to-treat cancers.
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An accidental lab discovery has opened the door to entirely new ways of preventing the flu.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells, SWNS reported.
By targeting the specific molecules the viruses rely on, scientists found that they could block them from entering new cells and halt their replication altogether.
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Researchers say these “fundamental insights” into seasonal influenza highlight a clear path toward developing better preventive medications.
“The hope is that fundamental, curiosity-based research like this helps to pave the way for novel strategies to treat and prevent influenza infections,” principal investigator Dr. Emily Bruce, from the University of Vermont’s Larner College of Medicine, said in the SWNS report.
While investigating how influenza replicates, researchers discovered that different flu strains use completely different strategies to infiltrate human cells. (iStock)
While several flu strains cause illness, H1N1 and H3N2 influenza A viruses are the most common. However, current flu tests cannot differentiate between them, and clinical treatments are identical for both.
Although vaccines and antivirals are available, Bruce noted a “dire” need for better medications to stop the virus from spreading cell to xxcell.
“You don’t get sick when a virus is in one cell,” he noted. “You get sick because a virus replicates itself and goes into many more cells.”
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The study, which was published in The Journal of Virology, originally aimed to map how viral RNA segments are transported within cells to create new viral particles.
The team used H1N1 and H3N2 viruses isolated from the nasal passages of positive patients in 2022.
Clinical treatments remain identical for both primary strains of the flu virus. (iStock)
During the investigation, the team unexpectedly stumbled upon a cellular pathway that blocked the virus from entering lung cells, SWNS reported.
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The data revealed that when a specific human protein called Rab11B was depleted, H3N2 viruses failed to enter human lung cells. H1N1 viruses were completely unaffected.
Using reverse genetics, the team mapped this defect and uncovered a brand-new, H3N2-specific role for Rab11B during viral entry.
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This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way.
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“Viruses are like pirates from different countries hijacking someone’s ship,” Bruce said. “Different viruses, like different types of pirates, use different methods to get onboard.”
This discovery challenged the scientific assumption that all flu viruses enter cells the same way. (iStock)
“We had previously thought that all flu viruses used the same way to get into a cell, but we discovered that this is not true,” she went on. “H1N1 and H3N2 need different proteins to get in, and if you get rid of the right protein, a specific virus can’t get in.”
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While these findings identify a critical cellular pathway for viral entry, the study was conducted using isolated cells, the researchers acknowledged.
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Further research is needed to determine whether blocking the protein is safe and effective within a live, complex human respiratory system.
Bruce and the team hope to conduct further research to determine whether this Rab11B-dependency is a fundamental property of H3N2, or if it’s a trait unique to currently circulating flu strains.
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Eating processed meat like ham, sausage and bacon may be linked to a higher risk of certain types of cancer, according to new research.
While health organizations have already confirmed that processed meat can contribute to colon cancer, this study looked closer at cancers in the upper digestive tract, where the link has historically been less clear.
To understand these connections, researchers from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), one of the world’s largest long-term nutrition and cancer cohorts, tracked the health and diets of 450,112 people across Europe for an average of 14 years.
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The study group included 131,426 men and 318,686 women, according to the study’s press release.
During the follow-up period, 876 people developed stomach cancer and 215 people developed esophageal adenocarcinoma, which is cancer of the tube connecting the mouth to the stomach.
For female participants, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk of developing the disease. (iStock)
Researchers tracked where the stomach cancers grew, separating them into the upper part of the stomach near the throat and the lower part of the stomach.
The researchers also sorted the tumors into two categories based on how the cancer cells appeared under a microscope: intestinal, which forms more organized structures, and diffuse, in which the cells are more scattered throughout the tissue.
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After adjusting for other lifestyle factors, the researchers found that for every extra 30 grams of processed meat a person ate per day, their overall risk of stomach cancer went up by 9%. Eating that same extra 30 grams a day was also linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma.
A standard single slice of regular deli-sliced ham or lunch meat averages around 28 grams, according to USDA data and nutritional tracking databases.
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken and turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach. (iStock)
An extra 20 grams of white meat, such as chicken or turkey, was linked to a 12% higher risk of cancer in the main body of the stomach, the researchers noted.
The study also revealed differences between men and women. For male participants, only processed meat showed a clear, statistically significant link to a higher risk of stomach cancer. For female participants, however, eating both processed meat and white meat was linked to an increased risk.
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These findings align with global health benchmarks, particularly those established by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer.
The agency has long classified processed meat as a known human carcinogen, primarily due to its strong, well-documented links to colorectal cancer.
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However, health organizations have also consistently pointed to a potential, yet less definitive, relationship between these meats and cancers of the stomach.
Eating 30 grams of processed meat a day, or the equivalent to one slice of ham, was linked to a 13% higher risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. (iStock)
Further scientific investigation is needed to confirm the findings and to account for other underlying risk factors, such as certain stomach infections, which could interact with dietary habits.
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A key limitation of the study is its reliance on self-reported diets, which can sometimes lead to inaccuracies in how participants recall their meat consumption over time, the researchers noted.
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The findings were published in the International Journal of Cancer.
Fox News Digital reached out to the researchers requesting comment.
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