The BMA reports that doctors have warned that a “significant proportion” of adults are risking alcohol-related health problems.
According to a survey conducted by the BMA in Scotland, on one day in April, alcohol was a factor in more than 5,500 consultations in general practice. This equates to around 1.4 million consultations per year, costing the NHS in excess of £28 million [1] and accounts for six per cent of all GP consultations.
The results of the BMA study, published today (Tuesday 3 May 2011) are based on a sample of 31 practices (3% of the total number of practices) from across Scotland. These practices reported that, on the 21st of April, 169 consultations with a GP or practice nurse had alcohol as a factor.
BMA Scotland is therefore calling on candidates in all the political parties to acknowledge the damaging influence of alcohol misuse on individuals and in communities every day in Scotland and to spend one of the last few days of the election campaign outlining how they will tackle alcohol misuse in the next Scottish Parliament.
In one day:
alcohol will cost Scotland £97.5 million in terms of health, violence and crime [2].
alcohol will kill five people.
98 people will be admitted to hospital with an alcohol related condition
23 people will commit a drink driving offence
450 victims of violent crime will perceive their assailant to be under the influence of alcohol. [continue reading…]
Previous research regarding the association between alcohol consumption and dementia or cognitive impairment in later life suggests that mild to moderate alcohol consumption might be protective of dementia. However, most of the research has been conducted on subjects already rather elderly at the start of the follow-up. A new study published in the December issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease addresses this problem with a follow-up of more than two decades.
The study, conducted at the University of Turku, University of Helsinki and National Institute for Health and Welfare in Finland based on subjects from the Finnish Twin Cohort, shows that midlife alcohol consumption is related to the risk of dementia assessed some 20 years later. The study indicates that both abstainers and subjects consuming large amounts of alcohol have a greater risk for cognitive impairment than light drinkers. [continue reading…]
Bad eating habits, ingestion of alcohol, sedentary lifestyles – all unhealthy life habits that are already being detected in early adolescence and that are especially predominant amongst women and young people between the ages of 19 and 26. The prevention campaigns should take very much into consideration these groups at risk and even take into account those less than 13 years. These are some of the conclusions that can be drawn from the PhD thesis presented at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) by researcher Marta Arrue, with the title, Lifestyle habits and psychological factors in adolescence and youth in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (CAV-EAE).
Ms Arrue studied 2,018 young people from the CAV-EAE who were asked to fill in various questionnaires. With the gathered data, she collated and analysed habits of life according to sex and age (adolescents from 13 to 17; young persons from 18 to 26). [continue reading…]
Alcohol is more harmful than heroin or crack, according to a study published in medical journal the Lancet.
The report is co-authored by Professor David Nutt, the former UK chief drugs adviser who was sacked by the government in October 2009.
It ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures of harm to users and to wider society. Researchers rated alcohol the most dangerous substance based on the overall dangers to the individual and society as a whole.Tobacco and cocaine are judged to be equally harmful, while ecstasy and LSD are among the least damaging.Curious? Continue reading Source: BBC
