Mortality from diseases, conditions and injuries where alcohol is a necessary cause in the Americas, 2007-09.

AIMS: To describe mortality from diseases, conditions and injuries where alcohol was a necessary cause in selected countries in the Americas. DESIGN: A descriptive, population-based study. SETTING: The data come from 16 countries in North, Central and South America for the triennium 2007-09 (latest available data). PARTICIPANTS/CASES: A total of 238 367 deaths were analyzed. MEASUREMENTS: We calculated age-adjusted and age-specific mortality rates by sex and country using the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) mortality database. FINDINGS: The annual average of deaths where alcohol was a necessary cause in the 16 countries was 79, 456 (men comprised 86% and women 14%). People aged 40-59 years represented 55% overall. Most deaths were due to liver diseases (63% overall) and neuropsychiatric disorders (32% overall). Overall age-adjusted rates/100,000 were higher in El Salvador (27.4), Guatemala (22.3), Nicaragua (21.3) and Mexico (17.8) and lower in Colombia (1.8), Argentina (4.0) and Canada (5.7). The age groups at the highest risk were 54-59 to 64-69 years in most countries. In Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua the rates increased earlier, among those aged 30-49 years. Male rates were higher than female rates in all countries, but the male : female ratio varied widely. CONCLUSIONS: Diseases, conditions or injuries where alcohol is a necessary cause are an important cause of premature mortality in the Americas, especially among men. Some countries show high risk of dying from this group of causes.

Casos de intoxicação envolvendo as substâncias químicas mais notificadas: álcool e aldicarb no estado do Rio de Janeiro durante o período de 1998 a 2005 / Cases of poisoning involving chemicals notified more - alcohol and aldicarb - in the state of Rio de Janeiro during the period 1998-2005

Esta pesquisa objetivou identificar os fatores de risco associados ascircunstâncias envolvendo alcoolemia no município do Rio de Janeiro no período de 1998 a 2005. As variáveis utilizadas para os casos considerados como positivos com quantificação de álcool no sangue levando-se em consideração o limite estabelecido pelo Código de Trânsito Brasileiro vigente no período (...) foram Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) do ano de 2000, as ocorrências registradas pelo Instituto Médico Legal, idade média e média de concentração de álcool das vítimas. Avariável média de concentração de álcool foi significativa (...) explicando 38 por cento da variação dos casos de Afogamento, assim como o IDH (p = 0,008) explicou 29 por cento davariação dos casos com Vítimas de projétil de arma de fogo. Foram obtidas relações inversas, para a variável IDH quando associada com as circunstâncias que se referiam à violência (Agressão, Vítima de projétil de arma de fogo e enforcamento). Podemos inferir, portanto, que os casos de morte por estas circunstâncias de violência aumentam quando os Índices de Desenvolvimento Humano são mais baixos. Além disso, nossos achados indicaram que os municipios não banhados pelo mar apresentaram os maiores índices de Afogamento corroborando com a literatura.

Muertes por intoxicación accidental aguda por alcohol y drogas de abuso en Costa Rica entre 2006 y 2010 / Accidental poisoning deaths acute alcohol and drug abuse in Costa Rica between 2006 and 2010

En este artículo se presenta el análisis de 15642 autopsias realizadas en el Departamento de Medicina Legal de Costa Rica entre los años 2006 a 2010, de las cuales se extrajeron aquellas cuyas causa de muerte fue una intoxicación accidental (sobredosis) por alcohol o drogas de abuso. Se encontraron 210 casos que arrojaron el siguiente perfil de las víctimas: sexo masculino, edad entre 30 y 59 años, habitantes de Guanacaste o San José, que fallece los fines de semana o a fin y principio de año, de una intoxicación aguda por alcohol si es costarricense o nicaragüense o de una intoxicación por cocaína o heroína si se trata de un norteamericano o europeo. Asimismo se demostró que en el período en estudio ha habido un aumento significativo de la tasa de mortalidad por esta causa...

Alcohol-related traffic accidents with fatal outcomes in the city of Sao Paulo.

AIMS: The aims of the present study were to characterize fatal traffic accident victims in a major urban center in Brazil and their association with alcohol consumption. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 907 fatal traffic accident victims in Sao Paulo, in 2005. RESULTS: Adult males between the ages of 25 and 54 represented the majority of cases with positive blood alcohol concentrations (BAC). Overall, males had a higher proportion of BAC and mean BAC than females. Pedestrians, particularly those with no detectable BAC, were typically older than other victims. Most accidents (total and BAC-positive) happened on weekends between midnight and 6 a.m. Considering all victims, 39.4% were positive (BAC over 0.1g/l). When only drivers (automobile, motorcycle and bicycle) were evaluated, 42.3% had BAC over the legal limit (0.6g/l). CONCLUSIONS: Alcohol is associated with nearly half of all traffic accident deaths in the city of Sao Paulo, especially for days and times associated with parties and bars (weekends between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m.).

[Alcohol and traumatic death in Jalisco]. / Alcohol y muerte traumática en Jalisco.

A review of 4,102 autopsies was carried out during 1989-1991 at the Medical Examiner Office in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, to determine the frequency of high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in fatal injuries, and the importance of alcohol consumption as a risk factor in homicide. Males showed the highest proportion of positive BAC in every event and age group. BAC > or = 0.001 g/ml was most frequently positive in homicides (56%), followed by unintentional injuries (45%) and suicides (35%). After adjusting for age, sex and year of autopsy, the differences were statistically significant.

Intoxicación mortal causada por ingestión accidental de alcohol metílico / Mortal poisoning caused by accidental consumption of methilic alcohol

El caso objeto de esta publicación se refiere al de tres hombres adultos que fallecieron tras ingerir accidentalmente una bebida alcohólica conteniendo gran cantidad de alcohol metílico. Se analizó la sangre de estos sujetos, hallándose metanol y sus metabolitos empleando la técnica de cromatografía de gases, Este es el único caso