Apr 24, 2015 03:10 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research suggests that Americans are more likely to be heavy drinkers or binge drinkers than in recent years.

Researchers at the University of Washington found that this is due in large part to rising rates of drinking among women.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines heavy drinking as exceeding an average of one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men over the past month. They define binge drinking consuming four drinks or more for women and five drinks or more for men on a single occasion at least once during the past month.

"We are seeing some very alarming trends in alcohol overconsumption, especially among women," Dr. Ali Mokdad, a lead author of the study and professor at IHME, said in a statement. "We also can't ignore the fact that in many US counties a quarter of the people, or more, are binge drinkers."

In 2012, researchers found that 8.2 percent of all Americans were considered heavy drinkers and 18.3 percent were binge drinkers. Since 2005, binge drinking, which is commonly associated with a higher risk for serious bodily harm, such as injuries, alcohol poisoning and acute organ damage, has increased 8.9 percent across the United States.

Based on data, researcher saw that women showed a much faster escalation in binge drinking than men, with rates rising 17.5 percent between 2005 and 2012; men, on the other hand, saw rates of binge drinking increase 4.9 percent.

Researchers said these rising rates of heavy and binge drinking starkly contrast with America's trends for drinking any alcohol, which have remained largely unchanged over time (56 percent of people in the nation consumed any alcohol in 2005 and 2012).

The findings are detailed in the American Journal of Public Health.

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