This will be the serious epidemic of the next decade

2023-11-16 13:49:15

And report from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) concludes that Spain is on the podium of the states that further alcohol consume. Specifically, it is located in the number three position.

The study, titled ‘Health at a Glance 2023’, points out that Spain consumes an average of 11 liters per person of pure alcohol -that is, accounting only for the proportion of alcohol contained in, for example, a glass of beer-, while the average of the OECD (which brings together a total of 38 countries around the world) are found in 8.6 liters.

With these data it is not surprising that the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH) has warned that the Alcohol-associated liver cirrhosis and hepatitis -traditionally male diseases- are increasing “alarmingly in women” and will be an epidemic in the next decade.

According to data from Ministry of Health, Consumption and Social Welfarehe 93% of Spaniards have consumed alcohol at some point in their lives, 77.2% during the last year, 63% during the last month and more than 8.8% consume it daily

In a AEEH statement on the occasion of the commemoration of World Alcohol Free Day, last November 15, Experts assure that it is a trend that is started in the Anglo-Saxon world and which is already beginning to manifest itself in the Mediterranean countries, where we must put the brakes on awareness and prevention.

#WorldAlcoholDay
????❌The only totally safe alcohol consumption is 0⃣#livertwitter pic.twitter.com/Sl32mYamEV

— Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (@AEEHLiver) November 15, 2023

According to hepatologists, it is due to change in consumption pattern -increasingly youths and more women-, similar to that of smokingand the “binge eating” on the weekends, that is, the drunkenness.

Moderate and conscious consumption

Alcohol consumption should be occasional and moderatehas assured Ramon Bataller, boss Hepatology of the Hospital Clínic of Barcelonawarning that both daily intake and the “binge” drinking pattern can have detrimental effects not only for the liver, but for other organswith a greater risk for women and young people.

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The expert emphasizes that the earlier you start drinking, the more likely you are to generate addiction and end in cirrhosisalthough it specifies that alcohol does not affect all people equally and there are factors such as genetic predisposition o to obesity that increase its harmful effect.

A dangerous fashion

For his part, the president of the Spanish Association for the Study of the Liver (AEEH), Manuel Romero Gómez, insists on denying the false belief widespread among the youth of “On the weekends, I get really busybut during the week I don’t taste a drop, So nothing happens.”