A team of scientists led by Professor Ulrich John, of the University Medicine Greifswald, Germany, has shown that alcohol consumption is more dangerous than cigarettes.
The research followed 149 alcohol-dependent adults for 14 years and showed:
Alcoholics die 20 years earlier than the general public
People dependent on alcohol live shorter lives than do smokers,
Women are at much greater risk of death than men: Alcohol-dependent women suffer death at a rate 4.6 times higher than average.
Heavy drinking will generally kill more quickly than smoking
Results were published in Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research,