Cirrhosis in young people doubles over last decade

The number of cases of alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver has more than doubled amongst young people aged 25-34 over the last decade, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.  The new figures from parliamentary answers provide a breakdown by age group of the total number of cases of alcohol related cirrhosis of the liver, which has also soared nearly threefold. 

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Sandra Gidley MP said: “The UK has one of the worst binge drinking problems in Europe. Ministers should have woken up to this issue and taken action years ago.  It is especially worrying to think how early these young people must have started drinking to get so ill.  These tragic cases are symptomatic of the serious and growing problem of underage drinking.  Health professionals have repeatedly warned ministers about the increasing danger of binge drinking amongst our young people, but too little has been done. 

"The Government’s obsession with hospital waiting times means it has ignored prevention. The root causes of ill-health must be understood and the balance shifted towards prevention rather than cure.” 
24dash.com 

• The Parliamentary question from Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many diagnoses of alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver there were in each of the last10 years, broken down by age.

• The figures are available on Hansard here.

Comments

[geoffrey Davies]

Interesting to know why in view of the rise in alcohol related disease, the Lib Dems, on the whole want to treat what are now illegal drugs, in the same way as alcohol: regulate and tax?