A hidden problem
In addition to causing liver disease, binge drinking also increases the chances of breast cancer, heart disease, sexually transmitted diseases and unintended pregnancy.
Researchers at University College London have recently reported that alcohol consumption could be much higher than previously thought, with more than three quarters of people in England drinking in excess of the recommended daily alcohol limit.
Since the beginning of 2010 more than 2,400 more girls than boys have been seen by hospitals because of alcohol. Suggesting that alcohol abuse appears to have a much greater immediate effect on women than men.
The ladette culture of binge drinking is not confined to young women. UK Department of Health figures show that in 2010 there were 110,128 alcohol related hospital admissions for women between 35 and 54. A switch to drinking at home has contributed to the problem of women increasingly drinking.
In February 2013 the debate over a minimum price for alcohol was reopened by a report by the Alcohol Health Alliance, a coalition of 70 health organisations and published by the University of Stirling. It recommends that a 50p minimum charge for a unit of alcohol is needed to end the "avoidable epidemic" of binge drinking deaths.
Dr Paul Southern, a consultant hepatologist at Bradford's Royal Infirmary Hospital in the UK, said that people in their 20s are dying from liver disease caused by binge drinking and children as young as 12 are falling prey to the “pocket money alcohol business.”
According to Dr Southern there is, “only one single effective deterrent (for binge drinking) and that is taxation.” While recognising the problem of binge drinking the UK government has not yet delivered a solution.
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