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My mother was a heavy drinker. She drank 1 bottle of vodka every day for years. It affected her brain because she became increasingly irritable, unable to control her outbursts of anger or grandiosity. She also developed clots in her groin that might (according to her doctors) lead to heart attack or pulmonary embolism. She also had a silent heart attack which caused her concern--but didn't control her drinking. She was also a heavy smoker. So she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She made at least one suicide attempt. So when she died in 1983 at age 73, without an autopsy we wouldn't know whether she died of a heart attack, lung cancer, or suicide. Now you could say 73 is not an early death. HOWEVER, her mother, who didn't smoke or drink, died in her mid 90's. So I think she died sooner than she would have died without all her drug abuse. Yes, I count alcohol and tobacco as drugs. Especially when used daily as mood regulators.

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