Executive summary: Addiction, including substance use disorders related to drugs, alcohol, and smoking, is likely the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and potentially worldwide, surpassing heart disease and cancer.
Key points:
In the US, annual deaths from drug overdoses (109,000), alcohol use (178,000), and smoking (480,000) total approximately 767,000, exceeding deaths from heart disease (695,000) and cancer (609,000).
Adjusting for addiction-related deaths, non-addiction cancer deaths are estimated at 408,271 and non-smoking heart disease deaths at 486,500 in the US.
WHO data suggests addiction is the leading cause of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) in the US, even without including alcohol and cigarettes.
Globally, the high prevalence of smoking (22%) and alcohol consumption may make addiction the leading cause of death and DALYs worldwide.
Considering processed foods as potentially addictive could further increase the death and disease burden attributed to addiction.
Addiction is a preventable public health crisis, and increasing awareness of and access to treatments could save hundreds of thousands or millions of lives.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, andcontact us if you have feedback.
Executive summary: Addiction, including substance use disorders related to drugs, alcohol, and smoking, is likely the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and potentially worldwide, surpassing heart disease and cancer.
Key points:
In the US, annual deaths from drug overdoses (109,000), alcohol use (178,000), and smoking (480,000) total approximately 767,000, exceeding deaths from heart disease (695,000) and cancer (609,000).
Adjusting for addiction-related deaths, non-addiction cancer deaths are estimated at 408,271 and non-smoking heart disease deaths at 486,500 in the US.
WHO data suggests addiction is the leading cause of DALYs (disability-adjusted life years) in the US, even without including alcohol and cigarettes.
Globally, the high prevalence of smoking (22%) and alcohol consumption may make addiction the leading cause of death and DALYs worldwide.
Considering processed foods as potentially addictive could further increase the death and disease burden attributed to addiction.
Addiction is a preventable public health crisis, and increasing awareness of and access to treatments could save hundreds of thousands or millions of lives.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.