Call 888-647-0579 to speak with an alcohol or drug abuse counselor.

Who Answers?

Binge-drink Britain: Hospital alcohol admissions soar by more than 50% in five years

Alcohol-related admissions to hospitals in England have soared by more than 50 per cent over the last five years, latest figures revealed last night.

Startling data from the Department of Health showed there were 863,257 drink-related admissions in 2007-08, up sharply from 569,418 in 2003-04 – the year Labour’s reforms ushered in round-the-clock drinking.

That is the equivalent of 98 people admitted to hospital every hour of every day because of drink-fuelled accidents or assaults, or due to serious illness caused by excessive drinking.

The number of male patients admitted with alcohol recorded as a factor rose from 351,121 to 537,365, while for females the figures leapt from 218,297 to 325,892.

And there was a disturbing rise in the number of young women affected, with alcohol-related admissions among 10 to 16-year-old girls up from 3,948 to 5,408, while among 17 to 21-year-olds figures leapt from 7,979 to 13,007.

The data emerged in a series of written Parliamentary answers from Health Minister Dawn Primarolo, following the Government’s recent admission that alcohol-related hospital admissions were four times higher than previous official estimates.

The findings are set to reignite the fierce debate over how to tackle binge drinking and rising alcohol consumption, after Gordon Brown last month rejected calls from the Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson called for a radical new minimum price policy to aimed at reducing hospital admissions and saving lives.

Recent figures from the Department of Health showed a similarly dramatic rise in hospital admissions where alcohol was recorded as the main factor – whether causing illness or injury.

Cases have risen by a third since the controversial Licensing Act came into force in November 2005, reaching a record 81,781 last year – of which a staggering 2,168 involved children aged 14 and under.

The Licensing Act has been widely blamed for a rise in booze-fuelled yobbery, as well as health problems, but ministers have rejected all calls for a rethink.

Don Shenker, of Alcohol Concern said the latest figures were ‘worrying’ and urged ministers to take action to tackle the rock-bottom prices of cheap drinks.

He said: ‘Alcohol is 65 per cent more affordable today than it was in the 1980s.’

Leading experts warned MPs last week that as many as 40,000 drinkers are dying every year because of the Government’s failure to curb Britain’s rising alcohol consumption, either through tighter controls on pub opening hours or on cut-price drinks promotions.

Martin Plant, Professor of addiction studies at the University of the West of England, accused supermarkets of having the ‘morality of the crack dealer’ for selling cut-price booze.

And Professor Ian Gilmore, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, warned MPs that based on present trends alcohol is set to overtake smoking as a major cause of premature death in the UK.

source: Mail Online

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Alcohol portrayals in films and advertisements make people drink more

New research has shown for the first time that portrayals of alcohol in films and TV advertisements have an immediate effect on the amount of alcohol that people drink. The research, published online in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism, found that people who watched films and commercials in which alcohol drinking featured prominently immediately reached….

Introducing kids to alcohol can lead to binge drinking later in life

Researcher Caitlin Abar of the Prevention Research and Methodology Center at Pennsylvania State University suggested that parents enforce a zero-tolerance policy in the home. She also said that there is no scientific evidence to support the belief that prohibiting alcohol turns it into a “forbidden fruit” and encourages abuse. In an effort to see whether….

Adventure helps boy beat alcohol problem

15-year-old who woke each morning wanting a drink has sobered up after therapy involving mountain biking and abseiling. The boy who spent eight months on a Christchurch City Mission adventure therapy course agreed to speak to The Press after an Otago University study into the care of young people with alcohol and drug problems. The….

Drink link to premature birth

Doctors say women who drink heavily early in a pregnancy – possibly before they know they are pregnant – may be raising the risk of premature delivery. A study of 4,719 Australian women found almost an 80% higher risk for women who drank heavily in the first third of pregnancy, then stopped. However, experts warned….

How much is too much alcohol?

For Filipinos, no celebration is complete without an abundance of food and alcohol drinks. This is clearly evident during the long Holiday season in the country, with Filipinos partying almost weekly until Christmas or New Year’s day. Experts, however, warn that people should take stock of the harm social bingeing and the occasional or regular….