Drink-related illnesses rise by 5%, figures reveal
The number of hospital admissions related to alcohol consumption in England rose by 5% from 2013 to 2014, despite a fall in “binge drinkers”, according to new statistics.
Admissions caused by alcohol-related disease, injury or conditions have more than doubledIn the last decade, hospital admissions under the umbrella of alcohol-related disease, injury or condition have more than doubled from 493,760 from 2003-2004 to 1,059,210.
The statistics, from the Health and Social Care Information Centre, also revealed that almost half of the hospital admissions recorded from 2013 to 2014 were due to cardiovascular disease – a 7% rise from the previous year.
However, despite an increase in figures, the study also revealed that 15% of men and 20% of women did not drink any alcohol in 2013, while 63% of men and 64% of women drank at levels indicating lower risk of harm.
In line with the government’s Alcohol Strategy, men are considered to have binged if they drank more than eight units of alcohol on their heaviest drinking day in the week, and women if they drank more than six units.
With this in mind, only 5% of men and 3% of women were found to drink at higher risk levels.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, a medical advisor for the alcohol education charity Drinkaware, told The Guardian: “Alcohol-related admissions to hospital due to cancer increased by 18%* in the last decade, highlighting the link between alcohol and the disease, which people are often unaware of.
“Regularly drinking above the government’s lower risk guidelines can increase your risk of developing alcohol related liver disease, which often has no warning signs. This is one of the main reasons it’s important to consider staying below the lower risk limits and introducing some drink-free time to your week.”
Earlier this year, a study found that higher alcohol prices combined with a decline in binge drinking resulted in a significant drop in the number of people injured in serious violent attacks in England and Wales.
