Alcohol Policy UK

Taurine: new treatment for fatty liver?

New studies suggest that taurine is effective in reducing alcohol or obesity-related fatty liver, says this BBC story.

Fatty liver "..slows down the functioning of the liver and if left untreated could eventually lead to cirrhosis, liver failure or liver cancer. About 6% of alcoholics die from these problems" according to Professor Chris Day, specialist in liver medicine at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, in the BBC report.

Rat studies by King's College London Professor John Timbrell found that taurine prevented fat build-up in the liver when adminstered alongside alcohol consumption.  Futher, when given to rats after they had drunk alcohol, taurine continued to reverse the liver damage.

The report also says scientists in Ireland found a similar effect in children suffering from fatty liver due to obesity.

For general liver info see the British Liver Trust site.

Alcohol research: reduced risk of diabetes for older women

From Reuters: Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol appears to protect older women from developing type 2 or non-insulin-dependent diabetes. Although an association between alcohol use and reduced diabetes risk has been observed previously, much exploration of this topic has centered on men and few studies have involved older women, Dr. Michiel L. Bots of University Medical Center Utrecht and colleagues note in the journal Diabetes Care.

The researchers examined data from a cohort of more than 16,300 women aged 49 to 70  who were diabetes-free at enrollment and were followed for an average of 6.2 years. During this period, 760 women were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Compared with abstainers, women consuming moderate amounts of alcohol (5 to 30 grams per week) were much less likely to develop diabetes. Ten grams of alcohol constitutes one standard drink. There was no association with type of drink. Lifetime alcohol consumption was associated with type 2 diabetes in a U-shaped fashion -- in that it was increased in abstainers and excessive drinkers in comparison with those with moderate consumption. The investigators note that their data "agree with previous observations and expand this evidence to older women and lifetime alcohol consumption."

Abstract here.

Alcohol field station, Cardiff

Cardiff's alcohol field hospital will be in action again for New Year's Eve.  The service runs from the Millenium Stadium and is manned by St John's Ambulance and the Welsh Ambulance Service.  More information from icWales here.

See previous posts about field stations in Norwich and Newcastle.

Alcohol-related hospital admissions rise

New official figures show alcohol-related hospital admissions in 2004-05 have risen by 15 per cent since 1996-97.  The figures, released to the Liberal Democrats, show that 4,809 people under 18 received in-patient care in 2004-2005 compared with 4,173 eight years before.  The illnesses include alcohol-related liver disease including cirrhosis, mental behaviour disorders and acute intoxication.

At the same time there was a 30 per cent increase in the number of adults admitted to hospital for drink-related disorders, up from 35,740 to 46,299.

Daily Telegraph story here, BBC here, Daily Mirror here.

These figures do not show admissions for alcohol-related accidents, falls, assaults etc.  Information on alcohol-related disease coding in the useful North West Public Health Observatory publication Taking Measures (Appendix 4).

Drink spiking

From the Essex Police website:
"Drink Spiking is the unlawful administration of a mind-altering substance into another person's drink........ The most common reasons for spiking a drink are:

• Amusement
• Sexual assault/rape
• Theft/robbery
• Kidnap / extortion

Only 1 in 5 rapes are reported each year. With over 900 drink spiking incidents reported nationally during 2002, that means that there were possibly 4,500 of these offences actually carried out."

From ITN news last week:
"Campaigners have welcomed a five-year prison sentence given to a pub doorman who spiked a woman's drink in an attempt to have sex with her. Michael Wright is believed to be the first person in Britain to be jailed for spiking a woman's drink with a controversial date rape drug. The bouncer tipped the chemical GHB into the victim's drink from a water bottle, saying it was vodka."

Other recent drink spiking stories:
BBC Scotland: A new scheme to help prevent alcohol and drug-assisted sex attacks is being piloted in the west of Scotland. About 200,000 tamper-free bottle tops are being handed out to 10 licensed premises in an experiment in north Glasgow and East Dunbartonshire.

Scotland's Evening Times: Staff in a Glasgow pub are on high alert after reports of drinks being spiked. Posters have gone up in the Hog's Head pub in Shawlands to warn that 'spikers' have targeted other pubs in the area. The warning follows two incidents at licensed premises in the Shawlands area. New preventative measures, including [SafeFlo] plastic safety tops, have been introduced to stop the problem. Bar staff have been trained to deal with such incidents and remind customers not to leave drinks unattended.

The Scotsman: A Harrowing film about a young woman being attacked after her drink is spiked on a night out is at the heart of a new campaign highlighting the dangers of date-rape drugs. Spiked, which will go out to schools and youth groups around the city, culminates in scenes of a woman lying unconscious in an alleyway with items of her clothes torn off.  The film follows the attack victim through the evening - from getting ready to go out with friends, to the point where her drink is spiked in a bar. Police and the Edinburgh Action on Alcohol and Drugs Team hope it will shock people into taking greater care of themselves and others.

Some anti-drink spiking products (from the manufacturers' sites)
SafeFlo is a simple, easily produced cap that fits onto a bottle beverage. As well as promoting hygiene, it is designed to prevent the drink getting spiked. This is a simple device that just clicks on to a bottle to protect the drinker.

Spikey is a brightly coloured plastic “use once only” stopper that glows in UV light so everyone can see that the drink has been protected. Once inserted into the neck of a bottle Spikey cannot be easily removed, creating a seal that helps stop pills and illicit substances (Rohypnol, GHB, more alcohol etc) being slipped into the drink. A hole in the top of the device is just big enough for a straw to poke through. Again the straw cannot be easily tampered with.

The Drink Detective is the only test in the world that detects the most commonly abused drugs that are used to spike drinks for the purpose of rape, robbery or other crimes. The test detects the presence of the following drugs when dissolved in a drink: gamma hydroxybuturate (GHB). Ketamine and the more than 60 drugs in the benzodiazepine group that includes Rohypnol, Valium, Xanax and Clonopin.

Info on drink spiking and date rape
The Roofie Foundation - Britain's only specialised agency dealing with drink spiking and date rape.

Police Federation Police magazine article here.

US research here.

Recovered assets to fund alcohol initiatives, Yorkshire and Humber

£100,000 of confiscated criminals' money is being put back into communities in the Yorkshire and Humber region to tackle alcohol related crime in the run up to Christmas and the New Year.

Eleven crime and disorder reduction partnerships in the region have each received funding from the Government Office for Yorkshire and The Humber through the Home Office Recovered Assets Fund.

Crime partnerships in Calderdale, Bradford, Wakefield, Leeds, Kirklees, North Lincolnshire, Scarborough, York, Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster are using the funding to target underage drinking, bars and clubs which promote irresponsible and rowdy behaviour and drunken individuals who cause violent disorder.

The funding will contribute to a range of operations including:

* High visibility patrols;

* Visits to licensed premises to identify breaches in licensing regulations;

* Test purchasing operations with Trading Standards;

* Issuing Acceptable Behaviour Contracts to young people found congregating in hotspot areas and misusing alcohol;

* Taxi marshalling;

* Prosecuting offenders.

Story here, Home Office press release here.

Short term effects of sustained excessive drinking

A TV programme called Mischief: Binge Drinker is to be shown on BBC3 on 12th January.  The programme follows a 40 year old woman for a month as she goes out drinking with a group of younger women five nights a week.  She puts on half a stone in weight as a result, her skin deteriorates rapidly, and her sleeping pattern is disturbed.

See Independent story here.

AWOL, West Suffolk

Alcohol With Out Liquid (AWOL) has been launched in East Anglia at Bury St Edmunds nightclub, Club NRG, according to this story in the East Anglian Daily Times.  AWOL mixes alcohol fumes with oxygen in a special 'machine', for users to inhale.  Local public health professionals and substance misuse experts are said to be 'outraged'.

More info about AWOL here.

Manufacturer's press release quoting the Department of Health's Judith Hind as saying "We are not aware of any current evidence to suggest that use of the AWOL machine, in accordance with your advice and instructions, poses particular risks to the user over and above the risks that may be posed by consuming an equivalent amount of alcohol in an equivalent time period in a more traditional way" here.

Drink Aware job

In the Guardian today: the Drink Aware Trust is looking for a grants officer.  See the ad here.  The Trust appears to be a reincarnation of the Portman Group's Drink Aware campaign and website, with funding from the Big Lottery.  I wonder what sort of grants they'll be granting.

The Trust's website is being 'redeveloped' and will be operational in the New Year; see also this press release about the success of the original Drink Aware site.

Price of alcohol and alcohol-related mortality

From Reuters

Finns drank an average 10.3 litres of pure alcohol in 2004, up by 10% from 2003, according to an annual review on the health impact of alcohol on Finns, carried out by Stakes, Finland's National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health.

Stakes found that 1,860 people out of a population of 5.2 million died from alcohol-related diseases or incidents in 2004, up 20% from 2003. That figure includes a 30% rise in death from cirrhosis of the liver.  Finland cut liquor tax by a third in March 2004, in an attempt to counter an expected surge in private imports after neighbouring Estonia joined the European Union, and to try to preserve the state monopoly on alcohol.

Research consistently shows that price is linked to alcohol consumption: lower prices mean more consumption.  This Institute of Alcohol Studies factsheet looks at the evidence and discusses the case for using taxation as tool in alcohol policy.  See also previous post on a possible retailing price war on alcohol this Christmas.