Every four minutes, someone in the world dies from drug or alcohol addiction, and the trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

In fact, drinking has been on the rise, particularly among women, since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent study led by the University of Pittsburgh.

“We anticipated finding some increase in hospitalizations for alcohol related complications among women. We didn’t realize it would be this stark,” said Dr. Bryant Shuey, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center assistant professor of medicine and internal medicine and lead author of the study, in a press release.

The study looked at over 14 million patients ages 15 and older. Researchers looked at alcohol-related complications that required urgent medical care on a monthly basis. Those complications included liver disease such as cirrhosis or hepatitis in addition to alcohol withdrawal and alcohol-related heart disease.

The findings showed middle-aged women’s hospitalization admission was higher than expected in 10 of the 18 months following the start of the pandemic. They also were admitted for alcohol-related liver disease in 16 of the 18 pandemic months. The exact reasons have not been determined by researchers, but some theories point to easy access to alcohol, home delivery, stress, loneliness, social isolation and certain mental health conditions.

In addition, new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows death rates among women drinkers are climbing faster than ever, and even surpassing men. About 178,000 people in the United States died from excessive alcohol use between 2020-2021. The increase in males was 27% and among females was 35%. In Utah, approximately 1,100 people die each year from alcohol-related causes.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Resources also reports that, in 2022, 6.9% of Utah adults admitted heavy drinking in the past 30 days. Heavy drinking is defined as drinking more than seven alcoholic beverages per week for women or 14 per week for men. Much of this drinking leads to alcohol use disorder.

“Substance use disorder is a significant global health problem, and yet the treatment options are limited,” said Dr. Brian Mickey, professor of psychiatry at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute. “Addictions are brain illnesses that have an enormous negative impact on individuals, families and society.”

Researchers at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah recently were selected by Wellcome Leap to research a new treatment for substance use disorder, including opioid addiction, as part of a $50 million commitment to develop innovative treatments.

Last January, the World Health Organization stated that no level of alcohol consumption is safe.

“Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance and has been classified as a Group1 carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer decades ago,” the statement said. “Alcohol causes at least seven types of cancer, including the most common cancer types, such as bowel cancer and female breast cancer.”

The statement went on to say even light or moderate drinking can put a person at risk for several other diseases, including cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart failure, irregular heart rhythm and aortic aneurysm.

“We cannot talk about a so-called safe level of alcohol use. It doesn’t matter how much you drink, the risk to the drinker’s health starts from the first drop of any alcoholic beverage,” said Dr. Carina Ferreira-Borges, with WHO. “The only thing that we can say for sure is that the more you drink, the more harmful it is, or in other words, the less you drink, the safer it is.”

The Utah Department of Public Safety has listed some signs of a drinking problem:

• Do you drink alone when you feel angry or sad?
• Does your drinking ever make you late for work?
• Does your drinking worry your family?
• Do you ever drink after telling yourself you won’t?
• Do you ever forget what you did while you were drinking?
• Do you get headaches or have a hangover after you have been drinking?

Anyone who answers yes to any of these questions may have a drinking problem.

There are several alcohol detox centers across the state, as well as medications that can help curb cravings. To find help, go to niaaa.nih.gov or sumh.utah.gov.