Binge Drinking Among US Adults

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Abstract
Alcohol abuse, which kills approximately 100 000 Americans annually, is the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.1Binge drinking, generally defined as the consumption of 5 or more alcoholic beverages on 1 occasion,2,3 generally results in acute impairment and causes a substantial fraction of all alcohol-related deaths.4,5 Adverse health effects specifically associated with binge drinking include unintentional injuries (eg, motor vehicle crashes, falls, drowning, hypothermia, and burns), suicide, sudden infant death syndrome6 alcohol poisoning, hypertension, acute myocardial infarction, gastritis, pancreatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, meningitis, and poor control of diabetes. Many consequences of binge drinking have especially high social and economic costs, including interpersonal violence (eg, homicide, assault, domestic violence, rape, and child abuse), fetal alcohol syndrome, unintended pregnancy, child neglect, and lost productivity.7,8