Press release - For immediate release
15 December 2008
Britain’s looming liver crisis:Half of all young adults first
got drunk before 15
One in two young adults in Britain first got
drunk under the age of 15, according to a shocking new survey
carried out on behalf of The London Clinic.
An online poll of more than 1,000 men and
women revealed 48 per cent of 18 to 24 year olds were aged between
13 and 15 when they first felt the effects of alcohol.
Alarmingly, six per cent confessed to getting
drunk before they were even 12 years old.
The findings are contained in a new report by
The London Clinic which warns that, if current trends continue,
within ten years alcohol-related liver disease could be claiming
more lives than breast cancer in the UK.
The survey of 1,038 people also revealed –
* In the last year, six per cent of men and
one per cent of women have downed at least 31
units of alcohol in one night –
well over an entire week’s allowance in one go
* 14 per cent of men and 11 per cent of women
drink every day
* 18 per cent of men and nine per cent of
women spend over £21 a week on alcohol. One in
20 men splash out over £40 a week
on drink just for themselves.
The report also highlights the lack of
understanding among drinkers about the effects on
the liver.
The survey found –
* 71 per cent of men and 78 per cent of women
believe they are at low risk of liver disease
from their regular drinking
* Nearly half wrongly assume they will get an
early warning sign that they are in the early
stages of liver disease, such as
yellow skin. In fact, most will have no symptoms at all.
* 60 per cent had no idea that if their liver
suddenly stopped working, they could be dead
within 24 hours.
Professor Roger Williams, director of The
London Clinic Liver Centre, said: ‘Particularly worrying is the
early age at which young people are starting to drink.’
Fellow consultant and liver surgeon Professor
Max Malago said: ‘If current trends continue, Britain faces an
epidemic of liver disease that threatens to eclipse that of
diseases like
breast cancer.
‘Binge-drinking is a key culprit but it’s not
the only one. Diet is also partly to blame.’
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a condition
linked mainly with junk food diets, is also becoming a concern, the
report says.
It highlights the mounting cost to the NHS and
the danger from ‘hidden’ diseases like
hepatitis C.
But it also points to new treatments that are
transforming prospects for liver disease patients. These include
‘live’ donor transplants – where a donor has part of their liver
removed to help someone else – and a range of effective treatments
for liver cancer.
ENDS
For more information, please contact Deborah
Muir or Jo Gulliver at Trinity PR on email deborah.muir@trinitypr.co.uk or
call 020 8786 3860.
Further media
information for journalists
Notes to editors
The London Clinic:
* One of the UK’s most established
independent hospitals
* Located on Harley Street in the heart
of London’s medical community
* Long-standing international reputation
attracting leading consultants
* Highly complex procedures in addition
to routine surgery and medicine
* 24 hour consultant-led Intensive Care
Unit