Shocking Alcohol-Related Death

A shocking story came out of Essex, United Kingdom this week about a young man who died at age 22 due to cirrhosis of the liver. He did not qualify for a liver transplant because they require alcoholics to prove they can not drink alcohol for at least six months.  Apparently he started drinking at the age of 11 and was a binge drinker throughout his youth.

This is so sad and tragic. I keep hearing about the dangerous escalation of binge drinking in young people in England, but cirrhosis at 22?  Just heartbreaking.

This same week a story came out of Italy about putting the first minimum age standard on drinking in Milan – age 16. Wine is part of every meal, so it was long considered normal for children to have a glass with their family. Why the change?

In Milan, 34 percent of 11-year-olds have had problems with alcohol, the municipality said in a statement. Overall, 22.4 percent of boys aged 11-18 and 13 percent of girls in Italy have drinking habits that pose a health risk, according to the National Observatory for Alcohol.

Also this week Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday praised the unpopular 1980s anti-alcohol campaign of the last Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. He doesn’t usually rain any praise on this leader, but the problem of alcoholism in Russia is what many believe causes the unusually low life expectancy in that country.

Just seems like the stories about alcohol problems the world over continue to grow.