CDC defines Heavy Drinker

[Mott the Hoople]

(CNN) -
Sheldon Shiraki sits at the bar in the trendy Fritti restaurant in Atlanta, happily sipping an ice cold cocktail.

Asked how many drinks it would take for the government to consider him a "heavy drinker," he laughs.

"I don't know -- maybe 25 to 30 drinks," Shiraki says.

"A month?" I ask.

"A week," Shiraki says with a smile.

"Let me do the math," his friend Pamela Gjerde says from the next bar stool over. A local, she calls the bartender by name and says she will sip a glass of white wine a couple days a week. For a woman to be considered a "heavy drinker" she thinks she'd have to have 15 to 20 drinks weekly.

They both looked shocked to learn they seriously overestimated the number.

One in 10 deaths among adults between the ages of 20 and 64 are due to excessive alcohol consumption, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says in a report released Wednesday. That means some 88,000 people die a year as a result of drinking too much. The majority of those are men -- about 70%.

Do you consider yourself a light, moderate or heavy drinker? Health agencies have these definitions to help you understand when your drinking may become a health problem.

Women are considered "heavy drinkers" if they have eight or more drinks a week, according to the CDC. Men can have 14. At 15, you, my friend, are a "heavy drinker" in the eyes of the CDC.

The definition different for women because women's bodies are typically smaller than men's. They also metabolize less alcohol in the stomach, meaning more ends up in their blood stream.

A standard "drink," by the way, is not that big frosty mug or that giant Hurricane glass you kept from Mardi Gras. The CDC says a drink is 12 ounces of beer (5% alcohol content), 8 ounces of malt liquor (7% alcohol content), 5 ounces of wine (12% alcohol content), or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof (40% alcohol content) distilled spirits or liquor -- the fancy term for gin, rum, vodka, whiskey etc.

"That seems awfully low," Shiraki says. "I would think someone is a heavy drinker if they get drunk all the time. Two or three a night wouldn't do that."

"That definition is crazy."

Drinking heavily

"The definition of 'heavy drinker' has evolved over the last 20 years and it is based on scientific evidence about the harmful consequences of drinking too much," says George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, who has sat on the committees that create those definitions.

The definition on NIAAA's website of "heavy" or "at-risk" drinking is the same as the CDC's.

But the National Survey on Drug Use and Health has another. They say "heavy use" is "five or more drinks on the same occasion, on each of five or more days in the past 30 days."

So which one is it?

"It's imprecise and not quantitative. I try to avoid using terms like 'heavy,' 'light' and 'moderate' for that reason in my publications," says Dr. Arthur Klatsky who has been studying alcohol and its impact on humans for decades. "The problem is everyone always wants to know if they fit into one of those categories."

Koob says the definitions vary because they're "not handed down to Moses from God on Mount Olympus." They are based on epidemiological studies that show the long-term negative consequences of heavy drinking.

The 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that heavy drinking was reported by 6.5% of the population over 12. That's about 17 million people. The rate was the same in 2011.

Those number are probably undercounting the real number, both Koob and Klatsky say.

Heaving drinking can lead to chronic diseases, including problems with your liver, throat, larynx and esophagus. It can lead to high blood pressure, psychological problems, and pancreatitis. It even puts you at an increased risk for becoming a victim of violence.

And of course you ultimately risk becoming an alcoholic.

Too much -- or not enough?

One in 4 people who fall into the "heavy drinking" category already have an alcohol abuse problem, according to the NIAAA. Binge drinkers -- women who drink more than four drinks in an outing and men who drink more than five -- are a growing concern.

"The real worry these days is the number of young people who binge drink in college," Koob says. "We were all 21 once, we all drank, but what this generation considers intoxicated has doubled over the last 20 years.

"Binge drinking has become a disturbing norm."

Not only does this put students at risk for violence, sexual assault, and all the above mentioned diseases, it can damage their brains. The frontal cortex -- the part of the brain that helps you make decisions and control impulsivity -- doesn't develop fully until you are 25. Binge drinking, studies show, can delay development of executive function.

Klatsky says the pattern of when you drink is just as important to your health as the total number. Abstaining much of the week and then having all seven drinks on Saturday is also bad for your health.

In addition to knowing what defines "heavy drinking," people should also know what "light" and "moderate" drinking is, Koob says.

Studies show the mortality rate for people who drink moderately on a daily basis is actually lower than those who don't indulge.

"There are health benefits to a lower level of drinking."

Klatsky says it is more important to focus on the broader issue of alcohol problems than getting caught up in semantics.

"There is an old joke all of us went to medical school used to hear," Klatsky says. "The definition of something like what is a 'heavy drinker' is one more than the upper limit of what the person making the definition drinks."

[iceman]

Mott never posts anything without a political agenda, so let's all guess what it is. "Damn gubbermint"? "Damn liberals"? "Damn scientists"?

I think I'll go with "Damn liberal gubbermint scientists".

[BmillsSkier]

I couldn't read the article, my drink was in the way.

[Hugh Conway]

you don't want to know it's killing you and making you stupid mott?

[Danno]

The piano has been drinking, not me.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I suppose 30 a week is a bit much. Depends what and how you're drinking, too. That could just be a lot of sugar and calories. Then again, 30 vodka sodas a week probably helps fight gum disease, lol.
Don't forget that a "drink" is often loosely defined and not very much.
30 pints of beer a week would definitely pack on the pounds. That's over 4 a day.

[hutash]

Why all the words? Just use the term "Maggot" to define heavy drinking.

[stuckathuntermtn]

I think 20 a week wouldn't be much. Probably your average European.

Hm. I think I know why I'm a little chubby.

[Timberridge]

I always thought a heavy drinker was someone with a BMI over 25.

/i'llbehereallday

[riser4]

tl;dr

..........

[HansJob]

I'm a heavy drinker after a night out. If I burn eight bowls in a week, am I a heavy smoker?

[iceman]

If I burn eight bowls in a week, am I a heavy smoker?

Yeah, seven is the cutoff point.

[Game Over]

Good lord. I use up my weekly allowance in 2-3 days or monthly in a week depending on who you listen too.

[jon gaper]

These numbers seem very low.My neighbor is an internationally known liver specialist who says a bottle of wine a day never hurt anyones liver.I think the French agree.
I certainly do not consider 2 drinks a day (thats one good DIPA or 10 oz of wine,or 2 oz of cask strength bourbon) to be heavy drinking.

[neufox47]

It's just like the definition of alcoholic - Drinking with the intent to get drunk.
What squares came up with that definition.

Apparently I'm a heavy drinking alcoholic.

Sent from my VS980 4G using TGR Forums

[Bromontana]

This is old news, 15+ has been the guidance for a while. I think it's in line with similar guidance that 1-2 drinks a day can reduce stress without undue liver/body damage. If you go over that, statistically the net impact swings to negative. Not exactly rocket biology.

Reason #4,568 why we got to legalize it, don't criticize it imho

[Name Redacted]

So we're all drunks. How is this news? Who wants to live forever? (Says the guy with massive hangover))

[that dude who did that thing]

Went to a baseball game last night. Guy sitting in front of me was a big boy. Easily 280lbs. Well over 6ft, and carrying a shitton of muscle mass, so only a little bit fat. Watched this guy put beers down at an amazing pace. In box seats, so we had waiters coming by, but that wasn't fast enough. He and th etwo women he was with would also go get beers in between waiter visits. The two women would go grab a soda, snack, bottle of water, and bring him two beers. Waiter would bring him a beer. He'd go get beers. This guy drank a week's limit in 4 innings. It's impossible not to conclude that drinking at that level is going to do major health damage if he maintains it.

this thread proves the point at the end of that article. For people (as opposed to researchers) "heavy drinking" is "one more than I drink." The point of these definitions is that they correlate to health effects. People tend to assume they imply a moral judgment, which is why everyone disagrees with some doctor's definition of "heavy drinker." But the doctor doesn't care about your soul, he cares about your health. And if you're meeting these low standards for "heavy drinking" you need to be aware of the health issues, rather than arguing about whether it constitutes "heavy."

[MagnificentUnicorn]

I think the definition of alcoholic should be that you get withdrawals when you stop. Anything else is just abuse, binge drinking or heavy drinking. Some folks seem to build dependence with what I would call moderate consumption and others drink like a fish and don't seem to suffer many ill affects and don't develop dependence. People are weird.

[detrusor]

The liver has amazing regenerative powers.....until it doesn't. That's the real bottom line for physical health. You don't want to be on the transplant list, and many who are don't drink excessively more than the definition. They do stick to it for years though, progressing through fatty liver to cirrhosis. That shits bad for you.

The emotional and spiritual toll taken by alcohol along the way, IMO, might be worse.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

Everyone is different. We recently saw a patient who said he drank a liter and a half of Vodka a week and had been for his entire adult life a heavy drinker. I think he was 60 and his liver looked like a child's, not fatty and supple and soft. I've also seen folks who drink a six pack a day and their livers are all hard and knotty. People are all different and other lifestyle choices will impact things too when it comes to cirrhosis.

[jon gaper]

Everyone is different. We recently saw a patient who said he drank a liter and a half of Vodka a week and had been for his entire adult life a heavy drinker. I think he was 60 and his liver looked like a child's, not fatty and supple and soft. I've also seen folks who drink a six pack a day and their livers are all hard and knotty. People are all different and other lifestyle choices will impact things too when it comes to cirrhosis.

1 1/2 liters =50 oz=33 drinks/week
six 5% beers/day = 42 drinks/week

You can look at the "study" itself
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI/D...E037FC56&F=&D=

make up your own mind

[MagnificentUnicorn]

1 1/2 liters =50 oz=33 drinks/week
six 5% beers/day = 42 drinks/week

You can look at the "study" itself
http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/DACH_ARDI/D...E037FC56&F=&D=

make up your own mind

I'm not sure what you're saying. Surely alcohol abuse is a problem and drinking to excess can cause serious problems, but like most things it can be different for every one. A bottle of wine a day would be like 35 drinks a week and some would consider that excessive, I don't think a six pack a day would be that much different depending on the person's size, history, diet and activity level.

This is certainly more than I drink these days. A bottle of wine split between two people everyday seems more reasonable.

[Viva]

(CNN) -
George F. Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism,

The Koobster! He collaborated with my lab back when I was in grad school on studies on the HPA axis.

[Art Shirk]

The Koobster! He collaborated with my lab back when I was in grad school on studies on the HPA axis.

I thought I was the only one who knew the Koobster!? I had him on retainer in college. he was a total buzzkill.