Monday 3 June 2013

Britain is no country for larger and larger numbers of old men, drinking more and more, to ill result

First the bad news. You old men in Britain have :

* had more admissions to hospitals in England for alcohol-related injuries and illness than the young 16 to 24 year olds and have entered in larger numbers, with a 62% increase in the last five years.

* those of you in the 55-74 age group, died in the largest numbers from alcohol-related deaths.

* had Dr Sarah Wadd, Programme Director for 'Substance Misuse and Ageing' research at the Institute of Applied Social Research at the University of Bedfordshire say of you that :
 "Evidence suggests that Britain may be facing an epidemic of alcohol-related harm among older people. An estimated 1.4 million people aged 65 and over currently exceed recommended drinking limits and the large numbers born in the post-Second World War economic boom period, the so-called 'baby-boomers', are moving into old age drinking relatively high levels of alcohol compared with previous generations."
 
* have had Dr Tony Rao, a Consultant Old-Age Psychiatrist at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, find that between 2002 and 2012 hospital admissions among you 60-74 year olds for 'mental and behavioural disorders 'due to the use of alcohol rose by 150%. from 3,247 to 8,120.

* had experts advise you to refrain from drink on at least two days a week, yet more of you are drinking for six or seven days a week than any other age group.

* have had a recent report by the Royal College of Psychiatrists say that you should drink less than other age groups, a maximum of 1.5 units of alcohol a day, because you are less able to process alcohol and the drink might also interact with medication you may be taking.

* a tendency, when you drink, to lose your sense of balance and are probably unaware that your liver is becoming less efficient at breaking down alcohol.
 
* one in five of you are drinking enough to harm yourselves, a rise of 40% in the past 20 years.

* possibly got reasons for your alcohol abuse in either your bereavement, loneliness, pain, ill health, disability or depression.

Now a little bit of good news for you baby boomer old men and women who drink too much, you have a friend in the 'Big Lottery Fund', which has announced an investment of £25million in the 'Rethink Good Health Programme', to tackle your late-onset alcohol misuse and It is looking for a partner to manage the project, which would set up 15 to 20 help centres across the country.

Peter Ainsworth, the Big Lottery Fund Chairman said :
"Most older people drink moderately and nobody is suggesting for a moment that older people should be discouraged from enjoying a well-earned pint or a glass of wine relaxing with family or friends. But while it is young people who are often stigmatised for their drinking habits, a silent story is evolving among older people as they experience life-changing events such as retirement, redundancy or bereavement. Today's Big Lottery Fund £25m investment will help call time on this trend by supporting evidence-based preventive approaches to alcohol misuse among older people."

My earlier post :
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Britain is a country where more and more old men drink more and more in their old age

http://britainisnocountryforoldmen.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/britain-is-country-where-more-and-more.html

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for really cheering me up with your blog post 29 May - 'happy days'!

    ReplyDelete