Death From Chronic Liver Disease Corresponds to Drop in Drinking

ALCOHOL February 1993

The death rate from chronic liver disease from 1980 through 1989 dropped 23 percent, from 13.5 deaths per 100,000 people to 10.4 deaths per 100,000 people, tracking a drop in alcohol consumption after 1981, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (AP, "Chronic Liver Disease is on the Decline," Washington Post Health, 1/12/93, p. 5).

Alcohol consumption peaked from 1980 to 1981 before dropping to a record low in 1991, officials said. In 1989, the most recent year for which complete statistics are available, 12,619 Americans died from chronic liver disease caused by excessive alcohol use.