Alcohol poisoning kills more than six people each day in America, according to a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released today. 
 
 But they're not the people that even experts thought were vulnerable. 
 
 The data shows that alcohol poisoning -- a result of binge drinking -- kills more than 2,200 Americans a year, but 70 percent of them weren't identified as alcoholics. Three in four of these deaths involved adults between 35 and 64 years old, and most of them occurred among white men, according to the report. 
 
 "This study shows that alcohol poisoning deaths are not just a problem among young people," report co-author Dr. Robert Brewer, who leads the CDC Alcohol Program, said in a statement. 
 
 The survey is interesting because it points toward a new alcohol poisoning demographic that addiction experts weren't aware of, said psychologist Paul Rinaldi, who directs the Addiction Institute of New York, Mount Sinai Roosevelt and Mount Sinai St. Luke's. He said many of those who died were probably weekend binge drinkers who function normally during the week and don't think they have a problem. 
 
 "What I think very interesting in this is that these people have probably been doing this for a long time, so why are they now dying of it?" Rinaldi said. "This is showing the dangers, the real dangers, of binge drinking, which we tend to associate with younger people." 
 
 He said it may show that drinking over time has an effect on the body that leads to some kind of biological change that contributes alcohol poisoning. Fatal alcohol poisoning can occurs when the brain is no longer able to control breathing, heart rate or temperature properly as a result of binge drinking. 
 
 He said the study doesn't point at causation, but raises new questions for further research. ||||| TIME Health For more, visit TIME Health 
 
 America has a drinking problem, with 2,200 people dying each year from alcohol poisoning. That’s an average of six alcohol-related deaths a day, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report says. 
 
 Alcohol poisoning happens when people drink an excessive amount of alcohol in a short amount of time, causing high levels of alcohol in the body to interfere with and even shutdown parts of the brain that are critical for controlling vitals like heart rate, body temperature, and breathing. Eventually, that can lead to death. 
 
 Over 38 million Americans binge drink an average of four times a month, and consume an average of eight drinks per binge, according to the new CDC Vital Signs report. Interestingly, the report shows that the majority of alcohol poisoning deaths happen in adults between the ages of 35 and 64, and 76% of those who die are men, revealing binge drinking is not a behavior solely observed among young people. The CDC reports that while the most deaths occur among non-Hispanic whites, American Indians and Alaska Natives have the most deaths per million people. The death rates also vary widely state to state. For example, alcohol poisoning deaths in Alaska add up to 46.5 deaths per million residents, and in Alabama it’s 5.3 per million residents. 
 
 The CDC says the report shows alcohol poisoning deaths are a greater problem than previously believed, and that the numbers are likely an underestimate since alcohol-related deaths are known to be underreported. Alcoholism was a factor in 30% of the deaths and other drug use was a factor in only 3%. 
 
 “Alcohol poisoning deaths are a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers of excessive alcohol use, which is a leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S.,” CDC principal deputy director Ileana Arias said in a statement. 
 
 In response, the CDC is calling for more members of the medical community to screen and talk to their patients about alcohol, since numbers show only one in six U.S. adults has reported ever talked about their drinking with a health professional. States with stronger alcohol policies also have less binge drinking, and should partner with community workers including police and health workers for better programs, CDC says. ||||| MAYWOOD, Ill. (Dec. 26, 2014) – Binge drinking in young, healthy adults significantly disrupts the immune system, according to a study led by a researcher now at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. 
 
 Depending on their weight, study participants drank four or five shots of vodka. Twenty minutes after reaching peak intoxication, their immune systems revved up. But when measured again, at two hours and five hours after peak intoxication, their immune systems had become less active than when sober. 
 
 The study by Majid Afshar, MD, MSCR, and colleagues is published online ahead of print in Alcohol, an international, peer-reviewed journal. 
 
 Binge drinking increases the risk of falls, burns, gunshot wounds, car accidents and other traumatic injuries. One-third of trauma patients have alcohol in their systems. 
 
 In addition to increasing the risk of traumatic injuries, binge drinking impairs the body’s ability to recover from such injuries. Previous studies have found, for example, that binge drinking delays wound healing, increases blood loss and makes patients more prone to pneumonia and infections from catheters. Binge drinkers also are more likely to die from traumatic injuries. The study led by Dr. Afshar illustrates another potentially harmful effect of binge drinking. 
 
 Drinkers generally understand how binge drinking alters behavior. “But there is less awareness of alcohol’s harmful effects in other areas, such as the immune system,” said Elizabeth Kovacs, PhD, a co-author of the study and director of Loyola’s Alcohol Research Program. 
 
 The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines binge drinking as drinking enough to reach or exceed a blood alcohol content of .08, the legal limit for driving. This typically occurs after four drinks for women or five drinks for men, consumed in two hours. One in six U.S. adults binge drinks about four times a month, and binge drinking is more common in young adults aged 18 to 34, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
 
 Dr. Afshar led the study while at the University of Maryland, where he completed a fellowship before joining Loyola. The study included eight women and seven men with a median age of 27. Each volunteer drank enough shots of vodka – generally four or five – to meet the definition of binge drinking. (A 1.5 oz. shot of vodka is the alcohol equivalent of a five-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce can of beer.) Dr. Afshar and colleagues took blood samples at 20 minutes, two hours and five hours after peak intoxication because these are times when intoxicated patients typically arrive at trauma centers for treatment of alcohol-related injuries. 
 
 The blood samples showed that 20 minutes after peak intoxication, there was increased immune system activity. There were higher levels of three types of white blood cells that are key components of the immune system: leukocytes, monocytes and natural killer cells. There also were increased levels of proteins called cytokines that signal the immune system to ramp up. 
 
 Two hours and five hours after peak intoxication, researchers found the opposite effect: fewer circulating monocytes and natural killer cells and higher levels of different types of cytokines that signal the immune system to become less active. 
 
 Dr. Afshar is planning a follow-up study of burn unit patients. He will compare patients who had alcohol in their system when they arrived with patients who were alcohol-free. He will measure immune system markers from each group, and compare their outcomes, including lung injury, organ failure and death. 
 
 Dr. Afshar is a pulmonologist, critical care physician and epidemiologist. He is an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and in the Department of Public Health Sciences of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. 
 
 Loyola’s nationally recognized Alcohol Research Program investigates such issues as how heavy drinking hinders the body's ability to recover from burns and trauma, how alcohol abuse damages bones, and whether teen binge drinking can increase the risk of mood disorders later in life. 
 
 Dr. Afshar’s study is titled “Acute immunomodulatory effects of binge alcohol ingestion.” In addition to Drs. Afshar and Kovacs, co-authors are Stephanie Richards; Dean Mann, MD; Alan Cross, MD; Gordon Smith, MPH; Giora Netzer, MD; and Jeffrey Hasday, MD, all of the University of Maryland. 
 
 The study was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and University of Maryland.
– If most people were asked to name the demographic mostly likely to die from alcohol poisoning after binge drinking, it's a safe bet that "college students" would be at the top of the list. As it turns out, the correct answer is middle-aged white men, reports ABC News. A new CDC report shows that 2,200 Americans, or about six people per day, die from alcohol poisoning each year—the result of drinking too much in too short a time. But 75% of those victims are ages 35 to 64, most are men, and most are white. "What I think very interesting in this is that these people have probably been doing this for a long time, so why are they now dying of it?" asks the director of the Addiction Institute of New York. He figures most victims are probably weekend drinkers who wouldn't think they had a problem. "This is showing the dangers, the real dangers, of binge drinking, which we tend to associate with younger people." The report also finds that 38 million Americans binge-drink four times a month, with an average for eight drinks per sitting, reports Time. On a per-capita basis, American Indians and Alaska Natives have the most deaths. (At the very least, binge drinking seems to mess up your immune system.)