 In 1996, we made the novel observation that a prior history of chronic alcohol abuse is associated with an increased incidence and severity of ARDS in critically ill patients. In our epidemiological studies of over 570 critically ill patients, 50 of all patients with ARDS have a significant history of chronic alcohol abuse. Since ARDS affects approximately 150,000 patients per year in the United States, and mortality is 40-50 even in previously healthy individuals, alcohol-related ARDS is an enormous national health care problem. We estimate that between 15,000 and 25,000 deaths per year in the United States are associated with alcohol-related ARDS, a number consistent with or even exceeding the number of deaths due to many other alcohol-related diseases such as cirrhosis of the liver and alcohol-related traffic accidents. Further investigations of the association between chronic alcohol abuse and ARDS are needed to develop therapies that improve morbidity and mortality in this important patient population. 