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A New Study Has Revealed that South African Alcoholism Reduces Life Expectancy. Mzansi Fun Must Be Real!

South African alcoholism has turned lethal and Mzansi Fun needs some moderation. Excess mortality may be worse in the public sector, according to scientists who studied data on more than a million medical aid recipients.

The study also reveals that drug-using South African men live lives that are around a dozen years shorter. According to BusinessInsider, when compared to men who are not mentally ill, it is over four years less in life expectancy, which is a substantial amount greater than the cost in life expectancy for those with a mental health diagnosis.

“Life expectancy after diagnosis of any mental disorder was 3.8 years shorter for men and 2.2 years shorter for women when compared to beneficiaries of the same age and sex without diagnoses,” according to research by 14 authors led by Yann Ruffieux and Anja Wettstein at the University of Bern in Switzerland.

The most serious threat to life expectancy for males is drug use disorders, which cost them 12.32 years (7.89 years for women); the worst threat to longevity for women is alcoholism, which costs them 10.24 years (11.5 years for men).

For both sexes, losses of between seven and ten years are associated with eating disorders and developmental disorders like autism. Men also lose more than 10 years if they are diagnosed with a mental disorder linked to brain dysfunction (also known as organic disorders) or a psychotic disorder. Women lose more than 10 years for organic disorders.

The University of Cape Town’s human research ethics committee and the Canton of Bern ethics committee in Switzerland both gave their approval to the study, which was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the US National Institutes of Health.

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