More young people in hospital for alcohol-related problems
By Danny Rose, Medical Writer
AAP
August 15, 2009 12:40pm

    * Rapid rise in alcohol hospitalisations
    * Young females now match male statistics
    * Researchers blame alcopops trend
    * New Year's Eve, Mardi Gras the worst nights

THERE has been a surge in young people being hospitalised for "acute alcohol problems" over the last few years, and researchers say it's because of alcopops.

Hospitals across NSW have seen a 50 per cent increase in people needing treatment for alcohol-related issues in just eight years.

The surge in extremely drunk and ill or injured patients is made up mostly of the young, and research also shows how this rise mirrors "the trend in consumption of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages'', known as alcopops.

The impact from alcopops can also be seen in the rate of young drunk women who turn up in hospital emergency departments (ED) - which has steadily increased since 2002 to now equal young men.

"Analysis of routine ED databases can provide a timely insight into the social and epidemiological context of high-risk drinking,'' writes NSW Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Office director David McGrath and fellow researchers.


Your Say

    I don't understand how on earth this report can be true...KRUDD has imposed and forced heavy taxes on to 'alcopops' and similar items to combat drunkeness in the under 2...

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Simple Simon of Perth

"The rise in alcohol-related presentation among teenagers and young adults bodes poorly for subsequent long-term alcohol use disorders and other risk behaviours and their consequences.''

The research team reviewed emergency room data from 43 hospitals across NSW over eight years.

They found people attending a hospital with acute alcohol problems increased from 98.7 per 100,000 head of population (6,400 cases) in 2000 to 149.4 per 100,000 (10,382 cases) in 2008.

The major surge occurred from 2005, Mr McGrath and his fellow researchers write in a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

"Between 2005 and 2008, the rate of ED presentations for acute alcohol problems rose sharply from around 110 to almost 150 per 100,000 population,'' he says.

"The largest increase was among 18-24-year-olds (and) notably, in that age group, the rate in women converged with that of men.''

"The... increase in young people, which flattened in 2008, is similar to the trend in consumption of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages over the same period.''

The research also shows how New Year's Eve and Sydney's Mardi Gras since 2007 are the calendar's major drivers of alcohol-related hospital presentations.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25932527-1242,00.html

mmm...there seems to be some commonality here  

I don't drink. Period. Never have, and (God willing) never will. I can't understand how people can be so inconceivably stupid that they would drink to the point of intoxication/passing out. These people should be held solely responsible for their medical expenses and perhaps be fined for the wreckless endangerment that they have caused unto themselves and the people around them. No sympathy. Emergency wards should be priortised for people with real health problems.

I also couldn't care for the parents out there who allow their CHILDREN to drink based on the ridiculous argument that giving children such a freedom removes the forbidden fruit element of alcohol and discourages them from drinking not only in youth but also later in life. Bull. That's all I have to say that that. Gotta love people who try to justify their ignorance.

Bleh. I'm tired.......................................

I put 'less than x6'..and sometimes I have none

I should clarify the quantities in the poll, I was talking standard drinks, not bottles etc.

and thats how I answered

Yeah usually 2 a week to get stamps on my card for poker... coz there's only so much Coke I can drink before my bladder explodes.  1 alcoholic beverage = 4 pints of coke (stamp-wise) lol.

I drink maybe 5 white wines with ice per year and 5 low carb beers with lime in summer!

I probably have 2 drinks a year, if that.

I haven't touched a drop since Christmas 2007

Goodness we are just a bunch of alcoholics tea totalers aren't we? No wonder we are a sensible smart bunch, we have most of our brain cells left! Being married to an alcoholic for 19+ years turns you right off alcohol I have found, in my case anyway. My FWB doesn't drink, smoke or gamble ('cept lotto) and my Daddy didn't drink or gamble.

Quoted from SuziH

we are a sensible smart bunch, we have most of our brain cells left!

Let's not forget that alcohol kills off the slow braincells effectively "culling the herd". As Cliff said on Cheers it is why you always feel smarter after a few beers!

Quoted from 122

Hospitals across NSW have seen a 50 per cent increase in people needing treatment for alcohol-related issues in just eight years.

The surge in extremely drunk and ill or injured patients is made up mostly of the young, and research also shows how this rise mirrors "the trend in consumption of ready-to-drink alcoholic beverages'', known as alcopops.

The impact from alcopops can also be seen in the rate of young drunk women who turn up in hospital emergency departments (ED) - which has steadily increased since 2002 to now equal young men.

IIRC hospitals are funded by tax dollars, you're unlikely to see to many young people in hospitals for other reasons, how about we say if you stop getting drunk you'll have no need for healthcare until you're middle aged so therefore we're cutting the amount of tax you have to pay. Who's up for it?

2--3 stubbies a day of the good old Coopers Pale ale

I would have 4 drinks a year and that is at Christmas time and that would be wine.  Although when I was 18 I admit to being one of those silly teens who thought getting plastered on the weekends was cool    That got pretty lame after 12 months and I ghave barely drank since...