Drinking Ourselves to Death
August 9, England
by: Jenny Hudson, Birmingham Post
Deaths from alcohol abuse have tripled in the West Midlands, a major study
published today has discovered. The "astonishing" increase in alcoholic
liver disease makes it the fastest growing killer, the author of the research
has warned. Dr Neil Fisher, a consultant physician and gastroenterologist at
Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, decided to carry out the study after seeing
so many young men with families dying from the disease.
The research also dispels the myth that excessive drinking is largely a problem
among the white population. Deaths rates among Asian men were four times higher
than average, the study found, with 80 per cent of this group being of Sikh
origin.
Dr Fisher said: "Drinking has become a bit of a macho thing among Sikhs
and to a lesser extent among Hindus, although we didn't find many Muslims drinking."
He added: "A threefold increase in deaths over seven years is really quite
astonishing - I can't think of any other diseases which have increased at that
rate."
The study, published in today's British Medical Journal , is based on West
Midland figures from 1993 to 2000. It found deaths from alcoholic liver disease
rose from 2.8 per 100,000 to 8 per 100,000.
Women made up about a third of the deaths from drinking. Earlier this year,
the Department of Health issued a warning about "ladette" culture
which has caused growing numbers of young women to drink excessively. The rate
of alcohol-related deaths has grown across the board - among men, women, whites
and ethnic minorities.
Dr Fisher said the mortality rates may be higher among Asian men because they
are genetically more predisposed to liver disease and may drink more spirits
which are more damaging than wine and beer. Overall, deaths from primary liver
disease increased from 6 per 100,000 to 12.7 per 100,000 - with the rise entirely
the result of alcohol abuse.
He says more money should be used to tackle alcohol abuse - rather than being
spent on laboratory research.
"We are talking about a lot of people dying from a self-inflicted disease,"
said Dr Fisher. "It is entirely preventable and is a very big public health
issue.
"Patients with liver disease are more time and resource consuming than
any of my other patients. "By the time they get to us, their lives have
already been ruined by five or ten years of hard drinking.
"My own philosophy is that there is too much funding given to laboratory based research, rather than public health awareness."