Teenagers in the United States lost about 200,000 years of life to accidental drug overdoses between 2015 and 2019

Unwitting drug use could cost younger generations of America more than a million years of life expectancy over a five-year period from 2015 to 2019, a new study finds.

Researchers from Ohio State University, in Columbus, gathered data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to find out the number of life years lost for children and adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. died from an accidental drug overdose.

By comparing the age at death with the average life expectancy, they found that the age group lost 200,000 years of life expectancy. When the study age was extended to 24 years, they found that a total of 1.2 million years of life expectancy had been lost.

Drug overdoses have become a serious problem for health officials in the US, and the study did not take into account a time during the Covid pandemic where overdose deaths were recorded. record is recorded. It seems that the crisis is also affecting young people across countries.

The researchers found that 1.2 million years of life were lost to accidental drug overdoses among 10- to 19-year-old Americans between 2015 and 2019. About 200,000 of those years were lost. disappears in people aged 10 to 19 years.

The researchers wrote in the study published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics: ‘Our findings represent an unacceptable burden of preventable death for adolescents and young adults. young people in the United States.

In total, 3,296 people between the ages of 10 and 19 died from accidental overdoses between 2015 and 2019, with this number rising to 21,689 people between the ages of 10 and 24.

Using 2017 Social Security Administration data, the researchers estimated how long each of these children would have lived on average if they hadn’t overdosed.

The numbers are combined by them, creating an amazing view of how much life has been extinguished.

‘Previous research has identified multidrug use, mental illness and unstable housing as risk factors associated with unintentional drug use in this age group, the researchers write. .’ ‘

The pandemic has exacerbated these factors for young people. With the pandemic bringing a surge in people suffering from depression and anxiety caused by uncertainty and disruption to daily life comes Covid, and dealing with a mass casualty has killed even more. 800,000 people.

Children and adolescents in particular have been reported to have been affected by school closures and sudden social isolation.

These mental health problems affect everyone, and combined with the interruption of drug addiction treatment due to Covid, the total number of drug overdose deaths, across all age groups, ultimately has also increased during the pandemic.

From April 2020 to April 2021, the United States recorded a record 100,306 drug overdoses, with more than 75% attributed to opioids. This is the first 12 months the United States has recorded more than 100,000 drug overdose deaths.

More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses between April 2020 and April 2021, the highest number ever recorded in 12 months, as the pandemic exacerbated the nation’s drug abuse problem (file image)

Although the data from this study did not include pandemics, it is possible that the number would be higher if the study included both 2020 and 2021.

The team writes that health officials should do more to prevent drug abuse in the US and contain the crisis.

They write: “Our findings suggest that additional resources are needed to mitigate these factors.

‘Current research needs to inform future mortality assessments in adolescents and young adults, as well as ecological interventions involving families, schools and communities, in preventing unintentional drug overdose and substance use treatment.’

Source: | This article originally belonged to Dailymail.co.uk