One in every 10 deaths among working-age adults in the United States aged 20-64 years can be linked to excessive alcohol use, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The sobering findings, published June 26 in the peer-reviewed journal Preventing Chronic Disease, asserted excessive drinking resulted in approximately 88,000 deaths yearly, from 2006 to 2010, and as well shortened the lives of those who died by an average of 30 years.

Excessive alcohol use is defined by the CDCP as: binge drinking, four or more drinks on any one occasion for women, five or more drinks on an occasion for men; heavy drinking, eight or more drinks a week for women, 15 or more drinks a week for men; and any alcohol use by pregnant women or those under the minimum legal drinking age of 21.

The deaths tracked in the study "were due to health effects from drinking too much over time, such as breast cancer, liver disease, and heart disease; and health effects from drinking too much in a short period of time, such as violence, alcohol poisoning, and motor vehicle crashes," said a CDCP new release. "In total, there were 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year due to excessive alcohol use."

In total, the agency estimates nearly 70 percent of all the deaths associated with excessive drinking involved working-age adults, of which 70 percent were male.

About 5 percent of the deaths involved people under age 21.

The highest rate of death associated with excessive drinking was found in New Mexico, 51 deaths per 100,000 population, while the lowest was in New Jersey, which claimed an estimated 19.1 deaths per per 100,000).

"Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death that kills many Americans in the prime of their lives," said Ursula E. Bauer, director of the CDCP's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. "We need to redouble our efforts to implement scientifically proven public health approaches to reduce this tragic loss of life and the huge economic costs that result."

It's estimated excessive drinking cost the United States about $224 billion in 2006, which breaks down to about $1.90 per drink.

Most of these estimated losses were due to a drop in overall productivity through reduced earnings among excessive drinkers and, of course, death.

"It's shocking to see the public health impact of excessive drinking on working-age adults," said Robert Brewer, head of the CDCP's Alcohol Program and one of the report's authors. The agency, he added, "is working with partners to support the implementation of strategies for preventing excessive alcohol use that are recommended by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, which can help reduce the health and social cost of this dangerous risk behavior."