Alcohol related illness effecting our young people
The BBC reported recently that patients as
young as 20 have died from liver disease caused by excessive drinking inNorthern Ireland.
A
senior doctor at theRoyalVictoriaHospital,
Belfast, has
said excessive drinking at such a young age has serious implications for the
future.
Dr
Neil McDougall, a liver specialist, in an interview, has said things have
changed significantly in the last five years.
"Two
or three patients in their early 20s have died from end stage alcoholic liver
disease," he said.
"The
sad thing is that those people were telling us before they died that they
started drinking around the age of 12."
Recent
statistics show the number of people dying from alcohol-related illnesses has
doubled in the last ten years.
They
also show the biggest growth area in terms of alcohol consumption and binge
drinking is in women aged between 15 and 24.
Dr
McDougall says: "It's devastating to watch young people in their 20s die
from alcohol liver disease.
"Even
people who have cirrhosis and a very damaged liver can stabilise quite
dramatically with stopping alcohol," he said.
The
focus on women and their drinking habits is all about prevention rather than
cure.
Alcohol-related
cases at theRoyal
VictoriaHospital
used to be exclusively male.
Dr
McDougall fears that, unless drinking levels decrease, more and more women will
become his patients.
"Seven
or eight years down the line maybe we will see more women coming through with
end stage alcohol liver disease."
It
is hard for teenagers to imagine what life will be like next year never mind
when they are in their 20s.
DrMcDougall says the message though is clear: "Unfortunately once you haveliver cirrhosis there's no going back from that."