Alcohol !

From the British Liver Trust:

Key facts

Liver disease is the only major cause of death still increasing year-on-year
Liver disease is the fifth ‘big killer’ in England & Wales, after heart, cancer, stroke and respiratory disease
16,087 people in the UK died from liver disease in 2008, a 4.5% increase since 2007.
This includes 13,805 people in England and Wales, 1,903 in Scotland4 and 379 in Northern Ireland
Twice as many people now die from liver disease as in 1991
Liver disease kills more people than diabetes and road deaths combined.

I lost my lovely niece recently, due to liver disease. She was 62, her husband only 44. She used to drink a small amount but every day. She stopped drinking 5 years ago but the damage had been done. I wish more people realised how risky it is to drink daily.

Sad stories .
I seem to have gone off alcohol. I can't be bothered with it somehow. It was always a treat but I don't seem to need treats to keep me going now I've retired! I still have the odd glass of wine but often end up pouring most of it away. Just as well judging by this new research.

Thanks, Grandura, the British Liver Trust website is very informative. Makes one think twice before opening a bottle of wine etc.

I think there must be something missing in my DNA, because I just don’t “get” the alcohol thing and it doesn’t seem to have the same mood-altering effect on me that it does on most people. I come from a family of moderate drinkers and from quite a young age, was allowed alcohol at home on special occasions like birthdays, Christmas, etc. It didn’t do anything for me and, when I was old enough to drink in pubs, I would go along with my friends and happily drink soft drinks all evening.

In my mid-twenties, I moved to a new area and most of my new friends drank heavily at the weekends and I started to join in – I suppose in an effort to fit in. I did get drunk, in the sense that I lost co-ordination and would certainly not have considered driving, but I still didn’t understand the appeal of drinking and hated the hangovers the next day. My drinking days didn’t last long and now I will have a glass of wine if we go out for a meal, but I think that's really to make others feel good, as some people seem convinced that I can’t be enjoying myself if I’m not having a drink.

Is this a common thing – or is it just me?

Think its just you and me Madamecholet!

I' m a natural teetotaller, I've never wanted to drink alcohol, I don't like the taste. To me wine tastes like pure acid.
I'm not boasting, I love food and eat far too much but I'm glad I've never acquired a taste for booze because all of my siblings are alcoholic and one died of liver disease.

I too am a very moderate drinker because I am not fond of the taste of alcoholic drinks, do not like the effect that it has on me if I drink even half a glass too much and like still less the effect the following day.

I do not claim any virtue for this, it is no different to me than my aversion to fresh milk and dislike of closely associated products like yoghourt or cottage cheese.

Day 60/100 alcohol free.

Well done Anya if I wasn't pants at maths I could give you a percentage is it three fifths ?

I do enjoy a chilled glass of wine but never to excess, well never more than 200 ml.

I also enjoy a glass of medium dry sherry with an ice cube in it and a few nuts, very old ladyish.

Only drink on occasions,two and I'm anybody's,three and I'm everybody's.

60% there NanKate and yes, six tenths or, in equivalent fractions, three firths.

Go to the top of the class.

Fifths! My iPad is mathematically illiterate.

My mother has at least a sherry a day and sometimes wine with her meal. She is 98. Has been doing that for donkeys years.

Our dear friend died of liver disease two years ago. He was tee-total and never drank alcohol, unfortunately he had a strong affection for all things fatty and had a really bad diet. His death certificate said the cause of death was obesity and liver disease.
Just a thought that the rise in liver related deaths is as much to do with obesity as alcohol consumption.

merlotgran I have some painkillers that I need to avoid alcohol when taking because they could stop me from breathing & unfortunately alcohol isn't a strong enough painkiller so there are times I can't drink

I've been reading these post with interest and only recently released what a problem drinking can be. Pubs are closing down very quickly so maybe the message is getting through.

It annoys me when a accident is blamed on alcohol.

Anniebach opened my eyes to it a while make and I can honestly say I was unaware of any problem with drink.

Does anyone know where Marmark1 drinks, might be a threesome in the offing.

You had never heard of alcoholism Gononsuch ?

Only at school Anniebach it never affected me.

In the 60's and 70's we use to drink drive all the time, so bad one night that I steered and OH worked the peddles, we where stopped at a police check point once, they opened OH door and he fell out, they pushed him back in and told us to take him home and yes he was the driver, when they started breathalyzing the normal response when they gave you the balloon was " another party"

I never associated alcohol with any illness.

The one thing I don't do now is drink and drive, any body who cause's death by driving while drunk.... 'nuf-said' I think.

What nonsense all this puritanical advice is! Remember what happened to fat? One minute it will add stones to your weight and kill you and the next it is good for you and no one should have dropped it from their diet.

I remember hearing the doctor who 'discovered' alcohol units saying on the radio that he made the measure up out of thin air and then also invented the safe/unsafe limits of those same units. All a lie.

Of course it is unwise to binge on anything but man has been consuming alcohol for centuries and it is part of our culture when under control and in lowish amounts. There are also recorded benefits to drinking red wine.

Everything in moderation.

Especially health advice.

There are many different diseases of the liver, some of them caused by viruses etc. But alcohol damage an increasing cause.
I'm a virtual non-drinker these days. Even a small one seems to be yet another damn thing that impairs the quality of my sleep.
But the evidence is clear - if you drink every day you are more likely to get an unpleasant illness that may kill you earlier or impair your life (and cost the NHS a fortune). So I do worry about some people I know who drink on a daily basis. Particularly younger relatives. One thing to hasten your end in your 70s and something else when in your 30s.
There is a tendency in the media etc to normalise excessive drinking.
I was very pleased that the Welsh football team celebrated without bottles and pint glasses in their hands. Well done them. They did not emulate the disgusting display put on by Flintoff et all when they won the Ashes.

If you have read that even a small alcohol is bad for you, then I suggest you stop ... reading.

Monica
The statement "Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 100% mortality" was made by the writer Joseph Conrad.

Well said Jess

Sadly it's a case of 'I'm all right Jack' until someone you know is killed by a drunken driver, dies in their 20s from alcoholic liver disease, ruins the lives of their nearest and dearest through their alcoholism or dies prematurely from alcohol-induced breast cancer.

As someone who has experienced all the above I'm less than amused by silly one liners.

Alcohol is a depressive that causes disease, accidents and violence. It leads to increasingly greater need, in the same way as heroin, and is best avoided. I think it is funny that the smoking police have nothing to say about alcohol, which damages many more innocent people through violence and relationship breakdown, as well as car accidents. I neither smoke, drink or take drugs but know that violent alcoholics kill other people. Anyone heard of nicotine leading to murder of women and children?