Russian men dying from booze

Jun 19 2007

New research has revealed that an alarming number of Russian men are drinking themselves to death.

A new study has found that the over consumption of alcohol is a factor in almost half of the deaths of Russia's working-aged men.

The researchers say heavy alcohol use, including the ingestion of alcohol-based liquids not meant to be ingested, attributed to the deaths of nearly half of all working-aged men living in Izhevsk, Russia.

Hazardous drinking includes both excessive consumption of regular beverage-alcohol such as beer, wine, and spirits and the drinking of non-beverage alcohol such as colognes, medical tinctures and cleaning agents.

According to lead author Dr. David A. Leon, the life expectancy for men in Russia is already low at 59 years, and for reasons unknown there have been wide fluctuations in death rates over the last 20 years but it could be related to hazardous drinking.

The researchers had access to information on markers of problem drinking, frequency of alcohol consumption, education, and smoking for 1,468 cases and 1,496 controls.

Of the participants 751 cases were classed as problem drinkers or drank non-beverage alcohol, compared with 192 controls.

Even after adjustments were made for smoking and education over a 2-year time period the mortality odds ratio for these men, compared with those who either abstained or were non-problematic beverage drinkers, was much higher and 43% of deaths were attributable to hazardous drinking.

The deaths were all in men aged 25–54 years and occurred between October 20th, 2003, and October 3rd, 2005.

The staple of many a Russian's diet, Vodka, is expensive and as a result many men to turn to cologne, medicinal tinctures, and cleaning agents as a way to get a quick buzz.