A new research revealed that 25 percent of all Russian men who consume vodka more than the allowable quantity are likely to die before they reach their mid-fifties.

Researchers from Britain's Oxford University and the Russian Cancer Research Centre in Moscow led by David Zaridze found that men who are alcoholic die before they turn 55 years old because of alcohol-related illnesses, tuberculosis, pneumonia, alcoholic poisoning, violence, suicide, and accidents.

These alcohol-related illnesses include pancreatitis, hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, liver cancer, and pancreatic cancer.

For the study, the researchers recruited and followed 151,000 healthy individuals for more than 10 years and used Poisson regression to calculate the relative risks of vodka consumption with deaths.

The participants were initially interviewed about the quantity of vodka they usually drink and their smoking habits. During the study, approximately 8,000 participants died.

At the end of the study in 2010, it was found out that male smokers who consumed three or more bottles of vodka weekly are highly at risk of death compared to male smokers who consumed less than a bottle of vodka in a week.

The relationship between vodka and deaths was described by the researchers as a "health crisis" for Russia. Yet, it could still be reversed if people will learn how to consume alcohol moderately.

"The significant decline in Russian mortality rates following the introduction of moderate alcohol controls in 2006 demonstrates the reversibility," Zaridze said to Reuters.

In 2006, the alcohol policy reform that controls alcohol intake in Russia contributed to the decrease in the mortality rate related to alcohol consumption. However, researchers said that the risk is "still substantial."

Richard Peto, a Professor of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology and co-author of the study, explained that they decided to focus mainly on the consumption of vodka after seeing significant variations in Russian deaths over the past three decades when different alcohol policies were implemented under different presidents.

The study was published in the Jan. 31 issue of The Lancet.