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

Who Answers?

More help could be on way for heavy drinkers

Moves to improve ‘appalling’ services for people with alcohol problems look likely in West Sussex, amid concerns over the impact on hospitals.
The West Sussex health overview and scrutiny committee was told a review of the services would follow a new five-year strategic commissioning plan for health services, to be unveiled soon by the West Sussex Primary Care Trust.

PCT director of strategy Sarah Creamer was questioned about poor provision for alcohol-related problems throughout the county.

She said alcohol-related admissions to hospital had nearly doubled over the five-year period up to 2006-07.

“This is a national trend, but something which we want to understand in greater detail in West Sussex, and then react to,” she told the committee.

A report presented at the meeting said alcohol misuse was a growing problem among young people, with a survey showing among Year 10 pupils – 14- and 15-year-olds – 12 per cent of boys and 13 per cent of girls were regular binge drinkers.

A local survey of 16- to 24-year-olds attending further education colleges found 30 per cent of boys and 19 per cent of girls said they were regular binge drinkers.

Cllr James Walsh said no-one in the health community was surprised by increased alcohol-related admissions, because of the culture in which alcohol was being increasingly used.

“But prevention and treatment facilities in West Sussex have been appalling in the 35 years I have been a GP,” he added.

“There are only two detox beds for the whole of West Sussex, which is unbelievably low and which will do nothing to deal with acute alcohol intoxication, which gums up hospital beds from time to time, at huge cost to the health services.”

Ms Creamer said having alcohol services included in the new commissioning plan would force a review of them.

This was something the acute hospital services were keen to see the PCT focus on, because of the impact on accident and emergency departments.
___________
source: Shoreham Today

More Treatment & Detox Articles

Analysis of alcoholics' brains suggests treatment target

An analysis of brain tissue samples from chronic alcoholics reveals changes that occur at the molecular level in alcohol abuse – and suggests a potential treatment target, according to researchers from Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Reporting in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, the scientists said that a protein known as beta-catenin that is….

Finally, the end of relapsing

Ever since the invention of alcohol and before the launch of new age treatment, people have been forced to rely upon traditional methods of achieving sobriety… everything from quitting cold turkey, to tooth grinding will power and “talk therapy” … and finally of course there’s the renowned 12 step programs introduced in the 1950s. AA….

Alcohol can wreak havoc on health goals

Sometimes nothing sounds better after a long, hard day than an ice-cold Dos Equis or a glass of pinot noir. There’s also plenty of research to show that red wine is filled with antioxidants and can increase good cholesterol, while moderate alcohol consumption by men can lead to a decreased risk of heart attack. So….

The Threads of Addiction

Many people have features of an addictive personality. They heed the call to the “pleasure center,” located in the frontal lobe of the brain. As many individuals yield to the urges and cravings of the pleasure center, negative beliefs and behaviors reinforce the need to continue self-defeating addictive patterns. Beneath the addiction, one finds personality….

The Importance of Exercise During Drug Treatment

You may not think that exercise is very important when you are in drug treatment. Maybe you think you have bigger and better battles to fight or you can’t see how exercise would really help right now, but it does! Exercise during drug treatment is a vital part of the rehabilitation process that not only….