Finns drinking themselves to death

SIKU CIRCUMPOLAR NEWS

A record number of Finnish men died of diseases and poisonings caused by booze consumption last year.

According to Statistics Finland, in 2003, 1,283 men in Finland died from alcohol-related causes.

Over the past 20 years, alcohol-related deaths among men aged 45 to 69 have doubled.

Heart disease has long been the most common cause of death among Finnish men. Last year 1,356 died of the disease.

Alcohol-related deaths among women have also increased four times during the past two decades.

Last year, 267 women died from alcohol consumption. Alcohol-related deaths are more common among women than deaths from heart disease.

Meanwhile, the number of suicides in Finland has fallen to a record-low level. Last year, 687 men and 201 women took their own lives. This is the lowest level since the late 1960s.