Fact Sheet - Alcohol

 

• "Compared to nondrinkers, women who consume an average of one alcoholic drink per day increase their risk of breast cancer by approximately 7%. Women averaging two to five drinks increase their risk by 50% compared to nondrinkers." (American Cancer Society, 2002)

• For women of childbearing age, the consequences of excessive alcohol consumption, particularly binge drinking, include unintentional injuries, domestic violence, risky sexual behavior and sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, and alcohol-exposed pregnancies.

• Patients treated in an emergency department (ED) for an unintentional injury are 13.5 times more likely to have consumed five or more alcohol-containing beverages within six hours of their injury compared to age- and sex-matched community controls.

• Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, is a psychoactive drug found in beer, wine, and hard liquor which is produced by the fermentation of yeast, sugars, and starches.

• Long-term heavy drinking increases the risk of certain forms of cancer, especially cancer of the esophagus, mouth, throat, and larynx (voice box). Research suggests that, in some women, as little as one drink per day can slightly raise the risk of breast cancer. Drinking may also increase the risk for developing cancer of the colon and rectum.

 

• In 2000, New Jersey drivers with a blood alcohol level (BAC) of 0.10 and above were involved in an estimated 31,300 crashes that killed 231 and injured 9,800. Drivers with a blood alcohol level (BAC) between 0.08-0.09 were involved in an estimated 540 crashes that killed 26 and injured 400 and drivers with positive blood alcohol level (BAC) below 0.08 were involved in an estimated 1,100 crashes that killed 62 and injured 1,000.

 

• Each year, 40,000 babies are born with FASD [Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder] in the United States at a cost of about $4 billion.

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