Alcohol Misuse and Its Statistics - Dissertation Example

King’s College london, department of public health Alcohol Misuse and Its Statistics 1. What proportion of hospital patients are alcohol mis-users? Does this statistic suggest that alcohol misuse should be a high priority within public health? Introduction: Heavy drinking may cause horrifying effects on physical and mental conditions. Alcohol increases the hazard of serious disease like heart disease, liver infections, reproductive problems and memory loss. It is affirmed in journal of the American medical association, the death rate of Alcoholic women is relatively higher than Alcoholic men. This journal also asserts that the danger of breast cancer gets higher with the habitual consumption of alcohol over and above the recommended levels. The ‘passive effects’ of alcohol abuse are disastrous. The cases of rape, sexual assault, and domestic and other violence, drunk driving and aggressive behaviors create problems not only for the alcohol abusers but for the innocent victims and their lives. These direct and indirect effects of extreme alcohol consumption require attention to be solved. The number of patients who experience problems due to alcohol consumption is high. The victims of these alcohol abusers also seek protection and help in the hospitals for the injuries or mental traumas they face. A study suggests that 20 percent of general hospital beds are occupied by people having troubles as a result of alcohol consumption (Mullally, 2000). Another study states that 1 out of 7 patients that admit in the hospital are harmed by alcohol consumption (pirmohmed et al., 2000). This rate is higher as it occupies a large portion if compared to other health risking factors. Knowing this rate It must be clear to assume that alcohol misuse is posing a threat to UK and the whole world in many areas. It would be a mistake to ignore the overconsumption of alcohol and its harmful effects on people’s lives. In addition, it is not a wise decision to ignore alcohol related incidents, disease and other health risking factors when preparing health budget and healthcare plans. This paper would further discuss how alcohol affects people and why should alcohol misuse be included as a high priority in public health. Overview of Problem: Alcohol consumption and its misuse are posing a threat to the global population. People of all age groups are exposed to the threats of heavy drinking. The trend of drinking in UK is alarming and increasing continuously. The risks related to heavy drinking are not limited and take all the risk creating factors that put an individual in danger. These risks involve almost everything from physical disease to accidental injuries. Many researches and studies are carried out to evaluate the factors that motivate people to drink and put their lives at risk. Many strategies and plans are proposed and implemented to warn people about the risks alcohol brings or may bring in their lives. Regardless of all the efforts, alcohol consumption still exists at a large degree. Awareness programs, anti alcohol campaigns, laws and regulations are all utilized but are limited in their effect. Extreme alcohol consumption creates such medical consequences that make it important for the consumer to be admitted at the hospital for treatment. These medical consequences involve psychological disorders, chronic disease, cancer, accidental injuries, aggressive behaviors and many others. In order to provide patient with reasonable care and treatment, healthcare services must take into consideration the possible arrangements that they would need to tackle situations which may arise during the treatment of these alcohol abusers. They must plan for the treatment expenditures and training to deal with the worse situations that are probable during the alcoholics’ stay at the healthcare centre. Extent of Problem: Binge drinking has always been a problem for the society. The increasing number of alcohol abusers being admitted in the hospitals continuously direct towards a need to adopt a plan that may improve this situation. Heavy drinking in UK is at an alarming level. The importance given to this issue is because of many factors that may and are harming the social, psychological, financial, emotional and physical health of people. Heavy drinking leads to a number of physical health issues. 4907 deaths were resulted from the alcohol specific disease in 1997 as indicated in the context of UK population. Alcohol consumers are vulnerable to a wide number of disease including alcoholic psychosis, chronic liver disease and liver cirrhosis (Great Britain, 1999). Heavy Drinking is also a cause of psychiatry morbidity as well as clinical depression. It is estimated that around 25 to 40 thousand deaths each year are caused by issues which are not solely due to alcohol misuse but alcohol is one of the major contributors of those causes (for instance, high blood pressure, stroke, chronic disease, oral and upper digestive cancers) (Alcohol Concern, 2000). Alcohol causes mental disorders, psychological sensitivity and extreme mood changes. The heavy drinkers could not control their emotions and thoughts. The negative thoughts, frustration, depression and tension lead to their negative actions. Alcohol consumers pose threat to the people around them and are more likely to behave aggressively when they are under the influence of alcohol. These extreme mood swings and uncontrollable depression ends up creating the decision of suicide attempt for the drunker. Approximately 65 percent of suicide attempts are associated with the excessive alcohol consumption (Whent, 1997). Alcohol is also linked to the accidental deaths. It is estimated that around 20 to 30 percent of accidental deaths are caused due to alcohol misuse (Honkanene, 1993). Literature Review: People start the habit of drinking due to many reasons which mainly include emotional distress. According to some theories drinking of alcohol provides relief to increasing stress. (Cooper et al., 1988) A time comes when a person has feels like evading himself from the reality that is the time when he has the urge of drinking.(Wills and Hirky, 1996). Drinking of alcohol is commonly found amongst the new young generation. This is because young people start the drinking process thinking that it would lead to the betterment of their frame of mind. (Frone and Windle, 1997) Recent research has proved that avoiding alcohol at times can lead to the usage of more alcohol. (Wunschel et al., 1993) To further prove this a ten year model research was conducted to find out about the relationship between alcohol consumption and the coping up with emotional distress. The ten year model showed that if drinking helped in coping with the emotional distress the consumption of alcohol increased but if it did not the consumption decreased. (Holahan, Moos, Holahan, Cronkite , & Randall 2001) In order to clarify the picture of alcohol related issues and to prove the extreme alcohol consumption in UK, statistical results of different researches made available by credible resources may help a lot. The debate about alcoholism, reasons of its extreme consumption patterns and the statistical analysis of its effects on different phases of life has been increasing since past few decades. Researchers have been giving more importance to study the causes and effects of alcoholism on individuals’ personal and social life. The alcohol consumption patterns in UK are extreme as evaluated that more than 9 million adults are consuming alcohol at extreme levels which are harmful for their physical and mental well-being. Survey reveals that 27 percent of males and 14% of females, aged over 18 years, are using alcohol at extreme levels which is far more than the recommended sensible level of consumption (Office for National Statistics, 2000). Having such a high rates of alcohol misusers in the country is terrible for the future of its nation. The alcohol misusers do not only affect the country socially but also pose as a threat to the economic and financial situation of the major departments including health and research sectors. Around 2% to 12% of the total NHS expenditure is spent on hospitals for the treatment and dealing of inpatients who misuse alcohol. It has also been discovered that alcohol misuse is one of the basic reasons for continuous and excessive admission to general hospitals (Royal College of Physicians, 2001). Studies also reveal that alcohol abusers put the general hospital settings at pressure in relation to the resources available in the Accident and Emergency and outpatient services (Pirmohamed, Brown, Owens, et al., 2000). General hospitals also require more resources available as they are highly vulnerable to acute medical admissions due to alcohol misuse (McKnight, McCance, Lundy, Wisdom & Hayes, 1995). Sharkey et al. conducted a research and exposed that 16 percent in-patients were misusing alcohol as identified by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) (Sharkey, Brennan & Curran, 1996). The people who are addicted to alcohol consumption not only waste their money and precious time due to intoxication but also leave a bad impact on their young ones. Research explains that increased sales law enforcement can decrease the selling of alcohol to individuals. Plainly, setting up enforcement of lowest alcohol buying age laws is desired to make them more efficient (Grube, 1997). Alcohol increases the risk of serious illness like heart disease, liver disease, reproductive problems and memory loss. It is declared in journal of the American medical association, the death rate of Alcoholic women is comparatively greater than Alcoholic men. This journal also declares that the danger of breast cancer rises with the regular use of alcohol. Although alcohol use is ordinary among a greater part of college undergraduates (Kuther & Timoshin, 2003; Ziemelis, Bucknam, & Elfessi, 2002), a division of students busy in a type of drinking behavior that occupies great levels of alcohol use which may put them at danger for communal, mental, emotional and physical troubles. This specific type of drinking behavior has been identified in the literature as binge drinking and includes the extreme use of alcohol in short periods (Murgraff, White, & Phillips, 1996). Current approximation discovers that about 44 percent of college students are resulted to be involved in binge drinking behavior (Torr J.D., 2002). Excessive drinking is a severe problem found in numerous colleges. To tackle this problem, study has swung towards knowing why college students use alcohol at height well over secure limits on sole drinking occasions (Murgraff et al.). More particularly, there is a requirement to recognize the social-cognitive signs related to excessive drinking among college students. Youngsters drink alcoholic beverages for fun and fashion purposes but afterward they get addicted to it. Students being the most important part must be kept away from drinking and drug addictions. These habits are changing their attitudes towards their family, friends, studies and responsibilities. They are creating a severe risk to their lives and future. Discussion: Knowing the consequences of alcohol misuse it is not difficult to decide that alcohol misuse should be a high priority within public health. Alcohol related issues are not limited to the extent of medical issues but are harming the society at large. The social consequences of alcoholism are also extreme. The increasing number of crimes is just one of the examples of those social evils created by alcoholism. Increasing number of road accidents point towards the need of more strict laws regarding driving rules. While driving under the influence of alcohol, alcoholics do not only put their own lives at risk but also pose a threat to others around them. Drinking is harmful for the social and cultural values of a person. Intoxicated drivers do not just harm their own life but may also create risk for the other drivers and people around. Alcohol users being well aware of these problems do not quit it. Extreme drinking is really terrible for physical and mental conditions. Alcohol abusers of adult group are exposed to the most serious disease like liver cirrhosis, cancers and heart disease, in addition, the young group or children who consume relatively larger amount of alcohol are also at risk. Young people are more vulnerable to shorter term acute effects of alcohol consumption. Specifically, younger people may experience rapid acute intoxication and the probable reason for this contains a mixed list of physiological and socio-cultural reasons. Physiological factors include the insufficient metabolizing ability and lesser body weight, whereas, socio-cultural factors include the inexperience of the consequences of alcohol consumption and drinking in un-supervised circumstances. Around 60% of children tend to be hospitalized due to alcohol consumption and most of them face the problem of vomiting and coma which may end up in fatal hypothermia in cold weathers (Lamminpaa, 1995). Newburn & Shiner’s report states that the inexperience of youngster’s inexperience about the effects of alcohol intoxication as well as the fact that children are more probable to do such intoxication in risky environments increases the risks of accidents and in injuries that result in the need for hospitalization (Newburn & Shiner, 2001). Alcohol is identified as a main risk factor for injuries among the children and youngsters and is also identified as a probable contributor in over 50 percent of traumatic brain injuries in the people of this age group (Zeigler et al., 2005). Alcohol consumption also contributes to around 80 percent of adolescent deaths from homicides, suicidal and non deliberated damages. In addition, alcohol consumption among this age group also increases the vulnerability to the risk of serious sicknesses and early deaths mainly because of the suicides and vicious accidents (Thunstrom, 1988). Thunstrom’s study also reveals a greater portion of hospital admissions related to alcohol consumption among the young patients (i.e. 20%). The study further explains the reasons of the exposure to alcoholic drinks by this high risk group. It explains that most of these young people are related to the lower socio-economic status group and they have exposed the indications of psychiatric insufficiency, extreme shyness, impatience, impetuousness and aggressive behaviors prior to the experience of drunkenness (Thunstrom, 1988). Children involved in this habit are often observed to have difficulties at school. The hazards of this issue do not stop here but persist throughout the individual’s life. A person who starts drinking alcohol at extreme levels from his childhood and continues it till his adulthood and old age does not pose a threat for himself only but also create difficulties for his upcoming family. Hereditary factor also supports childhood drinking practices in children. A children whose parents or most of the family members are alcoholic is at a high risk of alcohol problems. Children of parents, who are heavy drinkers, are 4-10 times more likely to be alcoholics in their upcoming life than those who do not belong to a family with alcoholic members. Children of alcoholics begin drinking at a very little age and step forward to drinking troubles more swiftly. Since the problems related to alcohol misuse are not limited, hospitals and emergency departments must always be present to control the situation that may arise because of alcohol misuse. These problems include excessive admissions in the hospital for cardiac disease, injuries due to road accidents, harms caused by domestic violence or aggressive behaviors of drunken people and other disease and wounds which require time to heal. Hospitals, nurses, doctors and other health department staff must be given with proper training in order to attend such patients. They must be provided with proper lessons about the aggressive and violent behaviors that they may face in their career. These issues are of much importance for the researchers, educators, general public and also for the government officials. To control issues related to alcohol misuse many governments are taking necessary steps and up till now they are, to some extent, successful. One starts drinking because of many factors which have been discussed. Nowadays the education provided by the government and NGO's has been quite helpful for public to stay away from drinking in the early stages. Alcohol can show the way to fatal diseases which, at the end of the day, might kill. Alcohol consumption does not only injure a single person but the society. Alcoholism is a big threat to the adolescents and must be stopped for a brighter prospect of the youth, their relationships and the entire state. Alcoholism is taking the life of millions of children every year. Those valuable lives must be sheltered by implications of new systems and policies in the schools. Parents must be guided so as to avoid risks of alcohol problems to their family. More emphasis should be placed on the implications of anti alcoholic campaigns and schemes. Conclusion: After considering the harmful effects or consequences of heavy drinking on people’s life, family and society it is important to discover a strategy which may eliminate the risks associated with it. Without complete knowledge about the extent of this problem it is not possible to propose or implement such a strategy. By the statistics defined throughout the paper, it is clear that drinking habits are extremely widespread in UK. It is stated in another study that 13 children per day are hospitalized in consequence of alcohol abuse. Additionally, Alcoholic liver cirrhosis has risen by 95 percent since 2000, in addition to by 36% from 2004 to 2006 and is still rising (Flint, 2007). Furthermore, alcohol related deaths show an increase of 18% from 2002 to 2005 (Office of National Statistics, 2007). These statistics indicate that alcohol related issues should not be avoided or ignored but require clear and closer understanding and proper strategies to be solved. It must be one of the main targets of public health organizations to tackle with problems, injuries and disease linked with alcohol consumption. There is a need to provide greater protection to the inpatients against this curse. Awareness programs and much strict policies must be adopted. 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ZIEMELIS, A., BUCKNAM, R. B., & ELFESSI, A. M. (2002). Prevention Efforts Underlying Decreases in Binge Drinking at Institutions of Higher Education. Journal of American College Health. 50, 238-52. Word Count: 2,932 (approx.) Read More