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A Moscow woman holds two bottles of Russian-made vodka in downtown Moscow in 1997. AP PHOTO/ Misha Japaridze

Russian men drink too much vodka...and it's killing them

At present, one in four Russian men die before the age of 55.

VODKA IS THE primary factor in the high and sharply fluctuating death rates among Russian men.

That’s according to a new study published today in The Lancet journal which asked 151,000 people how much vodka they drank, then followed them for up to a decade, during which 8,000 had died.

At present, one in four Russian men die before the age of 55. This is compared to a rate of 7 per cent of men in the UK with alcohol and tobacco use the main cause of the difference in premature mortality.

The study jointly carried out by the Russian Cancer Research Centre in Moscow, Oxford University and the WHO with co-author Professor Sir Richard Peto from Oxford saying that the changing availability of alcohol in Russia can be seen to have influenced premature death rates:

Russian death rates have fluctuated wildly over the past 30 years as alcohol restrictions and social stability varied under Presidents Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and Putin, and the main thing driving these wild fluctuations in death was vodka. This has been shown in retrospective studies, and now we’ve confirmed it in a big, reliable prospective study.

A similar study carried out five years ago which looked back at causes of death over a period of time also found similar results.

Both studies found much higher risks of death in men who drank three or more bottles of vodka a week than in men who drank less than one bottle a week.

The excess mortality among heavy drinkers was mainly from alcohol poisoning, accidents, violence, suicide, and eight particular categories of disease.

Study leader Professor David Zaridze from the Russian Cancer Research Centre in Moscow says that moderate alcohol controls introduced in 2006 have shown how curbing hazardous drinking can help.

“People who drink spirits in hazardous ways greatly reduce their risk of premature death as soon as they stop,” he said.

The average life expectancy of a man in Russia is 64 years-of-age, ranking among the lowest 50 countries in the world,  so researchers have cautioned that further controls are needed.

Read: ‘A fight for power is not for me’: Putin foe Khodorkovsky vows to stay away from Russia >

Explainer: What exactly is going on in Ukraine? >

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42 Comments
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    Mute Rab C Nesbitt
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:15 PM

    Awaiting nationality details

    347
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    Mute Kevin Collins
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:23 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: why?

    44
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    Mute John Mc Donagh
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:32 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: —-Or perhaps ethnic status, if theyr’e Irish.

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    Mute Looney Tunes
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:33 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: the Journal won’t disclose, for fear of a backlash from the pc brigade

    127
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    Mute Kevin Collins
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:45 PM

    @Looney Tunes: crime is crime, irrespective of nationality or ethnicity. Apart from white Irish people of course, who obviously account for precisely 0% of all crimes that have ever occurred in this country.

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    Mute The quite man
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:57 PM

    @Kevin Collins: because it’s a big scam that mostly Certain nationalities pull, very common in UK but creeping in here, that said I know a person that pulled not far from me.

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    Mute Canyon
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:31 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: Indo give that information.

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    Mute Looney Tunes
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:34 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: Deport them, instead of a slap on the wrist

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:35 PM

    @The quite man: and was the Garda arrested last week for insurance scam also a particular nationality?

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    Mute The quite man
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:37 PM

    @EillieEs: yes he was he was Irish, hope that clears it up for you.

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    Mute Criostóir McCormack
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:43 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: Romanian…..I watched it all unfold this morning.

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    Mute EillieEs
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    Jul 9th 2020, 7:38 PM

    @The quite man: to read some of the comments here one would think only certain nationalities, but not Irish, were involved in insurance scams.

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    Mute Anthony Doyle
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    Jul 9th 2020, 7:50 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: culchies

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    Mute JJandtim Dwyer
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    Jul 9th 2020, 9:44 PM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: you read my mind sir reading further down it seems you were on the nail.

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    Mute The quite man
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    Jul 9th 2020, 9:54 PM

    @EillieEs: it was me you the question to,I answered, if you have a problem with other comments you should ask them. I speak only for myself.

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    Mute Patricia O'Reilly
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    Jul 10th 2020, 1:20 AM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: why ?I reckon us Irish here have an awful reputation for sueing at every opportunity. That’s why recreational businesses were closing last year as they couldn’t get cover due to all these lovely people sueing them.. and nothing wrong with at least half of them.. but they keep sueing..

    5
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    Mute Peter donnelly
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    Jul 10th 2020, 8:28 AM

    @Patricia O’Reilly: that is the insurance co’s fault they wold rather pay out than face possibility of loosing in court and facing rediculious legal fees etc….

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    Mute Criostoir Mac Ranghaill
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    Jul 10th 2020, 3:09 PM

    @EillieEs: The Irish are involved in scams but the use the Irish definition of scam called Brown Envelope

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    Mute Raymond McGee
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:25 PM

    That’s a Romanian name. Is it just me or are there lots of these fraud cases involving them lately. Am I dreaming or were 114 of them arrested in one go, the largest mass atrest I’ve ever heard of, one day’s coverage then silence. We csn pursue politicians for weeks but not a peep out of national media on cases (lots) involving ‘new Irish’ or certain ethnic groups, maybe for fear of accusations of racism or noise from representative groups…. Very odd….

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    Mute Fabian Lee
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    Jul 9th 2020, 8:35 PM

    @Raymond McGee: Luckily the Oirish wud never do anything wrong but then these people are arrested! Why so eager to point the finger! Island of saints and scholars me Áras!

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    Mute Rab C Nesbitt
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    Jul 9th 2020, 9:58 PM

    @Fabian Lee: Certainly not an island of saints but our non saints are no where near on par with the Romanian non saints. They’re on another level and making millions from it.

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    Mute nelliekel
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    Jul 10th 2020, 12:40 AM

    @Rab C Nesbitt: they obviously took higher level fraud in their leaving cert compered to irish

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    Mute Juls
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:56 PM

    Constantin Iosca (40) of Scholars Walk, Lusk, Dublin. It was reported by the Irish Independent.

    179
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    Mute Michael Reilly
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    Jul 10th 2020, 10:07 AM

    @Juls: what’s missing is the name of the bunch of lawyers lining their pockets.

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    Mute Brianán McBride
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:17 PM

    Will be interesting to read the details of this.

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    Mute Shelly Levine
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:19 PM

    Well that was just choc full of details. Can’t wait for the update “released pending further investigation”

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    Mute Gary Sheahan
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:48 PM

    whatever about the reporting it’s great to see a general increase by the Guards and the insurance companies in pursuing false claims. This used to be tolerated by a significant proportion of the population as a victimless crime. Well our premiums prove that’s not true. D’arcy was underrated in the work he did in this area. He was fighting against some strong forces. We are starting to see the benefit now.

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    Mute Carmel Myob
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:17 PM

    Wasn’t there a guard also arrested for some insurance scam during the week?

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    Mute Nowa Huta
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:19 PM

    Where was Mr. Cowen that day?

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    Mute Tommy the postman
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:52 PM

    hes one of the iosca’s from lusk an irish man true n true judge says if he gets a job have to pay the insurance company costs what ye think

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    Mute Micheal S. O' Ceilleachair
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    Jul 9th 2020, 7:33 PM

    @Tommy the postman: McUisce!!!!

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    Mute Tommy the postman
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    Jul 9th 2020, 10:11 PM

    @Micheal S. O’ Ceilleachair: uisce batha matters in lockdown

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    Mute feargal wash your hands de cantuin
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    Jul 9th 2020, 5:40 PM

    Any chance they were Scobies?

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    Mute Anthony Burke
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    Jul 9th 2020, 7:05 PM

    @feargal wash your hands de cantuin: Always a chance..

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    Mute Pat O'Leary
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    Jul 10th 2020, 12:05 AM

    Some addition to the country.

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    Mute Paddy O Rourke
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    Jul 9th 2020, 6:42 PM

    Anyone know the code for cyberflix

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    Mute Lena Madden
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    Jul 10th 2020, 9:24 AM

    It looks like many comenting here are rasists and xenophobes. There are many good hard working Romanians! Dont you forget how Irish were treated in the UK and US!

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