Drug overdose death rate increasing the most among middle-aged women, CDC finds

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By Madeline Farber | Fox News

The drug overdose death rate among women in the U.S. has greatly increased, according to data released this week in the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s morbidity and mortality report.

It's not clear why women are becoming disproportionately affected. (photo credit iStock)

Specifically, the data revealed the drug overdose death rate has hit middle-aged women particularly hard. In fact, from 1999 to 2017, the CDC found the drug overdose death rate among women ages 30 to 64 group increased by a whopping 260 percent. In other words, the rate increased “from 6.7 deaths per 100,000 population (4,314 total drug overdose deaths) in 1999 to 24.3 (18,110) in 2017,” the health agency said in the report.

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During the same time period, the CDC also noted that the number and rate of deaths associated with antidepressants, benzodiazepines, cocaine, heroin and synthetic opioids (excluding methadone) also increased.

Prescription opioid-related deaths also increased for women aged 30 to 64 between 1999 and 2017, the CDC said, adding the largest increase was among women aged 55 to 64.

See full article at https://www.foxnews.com/health/drug-overdose-death-rates-increasing-the-most-among-middle-aged-women-cdc-finds