Alcohol

Yesterday's lecture on alcohol made me realise how this topic is perceived in the UK. As a Spanish exchange student I was so impressed to see how much people drink in this country everyday. I must admit that since I came here in September I drink more as well! but it seems impossible not to with so many cheap drinks in nightclubs and pubs.

Some people commented in class that this tendency to drink must have something to do with that and the fact that British people are shy, so they need alcohol in order to lose inhibitions. Having a drink every now and then should not be a problem but sometimes people forget about health. The NHS Information Centre reported that:

In 2005/06, there were 187,640 NHS hospital admissions among adults aged 16 and over with either a primary or secondary diagnosis specifically related to alcohol. This has more than doubled from 89,280 in 1995/96.

Among children under 16 there were 5,280 NHS Hospital admissions in 2005/06 with either a primary or secondary diagnosis specifically related to alcohol. This represents an overall increase of just over a third from 3,870 in 1995/96.

In 2005, 6,570 people died from causes directly linked to alcohol consumption, of these just under two thirds (4,160) died from alcoholic liver disease. Two thirds (67 per cent) of those dying from alcoholic liver disease were men.

These numbers make me think that perhaps people should learn to drink more sensibly here. Maybe it is a question of educating children since they are young to make them know the risks of alochol or maybe making alcohol more expensive so that people could not afford to drink so much. Here there are more statistics related to alcohol in England:

http://www.ic.nhs.uk/statistics-and-data-collections/health-and-lifestyles/alcohol/statistics-on-alcohol:-england-2007-%5Bns%5D