Skip to main content

Liquor main cause for liver ailments, say doctors

Calling alcoholism the primary cause for liver-related diseases, doctors advocated restriction on liquor outlets and deglamorisation of alcohol to prevent the menace.
The liver specialists also stressed on alcohol-related education, prevention and research in India and to make liquor more expensive.
Highlighting the lack of proper treatment of liver- related ailments, doctors said there was a need for more investment in research and developing new tools to treat the disease.
AlcoholDoctors, who are presently in the city to attend an international symposium on alcoholic liver and pancreatic diseases and cirrhosis organised by Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), stressed on the need for a research budget in this area and also take up public health epidemiology study to get to the root of it.
"India needs to take up some big public health epidemiology study. Go out in the communities and discover levels of alcoholism and the prevalence of diseases. That data is needed for public health authorities," Mark Thurz, Professor of Hepatology at Imperial College, UK, said.
"The price of alcohol has to be less affordable so that it gets difficult for people to get it. Otherwise, the consumption will go up. We have to reduce marketing about alcohol and stop glorifying it," Thurz said.
He maintained that banning alcohol increases crime and instead the ban should be implemented on advertising.
In the UK, liver diseases are the fifth main cause of death and in 80 per cent of the cases, the disease was caused by alcohol, he said, adding that while the top four causes of death are decreasing, this one was increasing.
Others at the symposium maintained that it is important to create awareness about alcoholism among adolescents.
"It is very important to educate children from the teenage level and India should have a programme for that. A budget both for research budget and treatment is needed," Bin Gao, chief of Laboratory of liver diseases, National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Maryland, US, said.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ban alcohol advertising and products: NGOs

India News By IANS, New Delhi: A new report by a group of NGOs Tuesday highlighted the ill-effects of advertising and marketing of alcohol on young people, and proposed a comprehensive ban on all kinds of marketing strategies that seek to portray drinking as normal. "To reduce alcohol consumption, it is very important that the governments enforce a comprehensive ban on all kinds of advertising of alcohol brands and products. "A separate government agency should be formed to monitor this ban," said the report titled "Alcohol Marketing and Regulatory Policy Environment in India" released here. The report was developed by the Public Health Foundation of India in collaboration with Delhi-based NGO Hriday and Swedish National Institute of Public Health. Monika Arora, director of the health promotions unit of Public Health Foundation of India blamed advertising for promoting the use of alcohol among youth. "It has been seen that children wh...
1 comment
Read more

Bollywood Actor Challenges Liquor Legislation

Bollywood Actor Challenges Liquor Legislation NTDTV In an effort to discourage youngsters from consuming alcohol, the provincial government of India 's western Maharashtra state this June increased the legal age limit from 21 to 25. Khan calls this act of state government an infringement of individual ... < http://english.ntdtv.com/ntd t v_en/news_asia/2011-09-15/bol l ywood-actor-challenges-liquor - legislation.html >
Post a Comment
Read more

Family is exposed to second-hand smoke that adds to their indoor pollution, a risk factor for NCDs says Suneel

Suneel Vatsyayan says " In our society, tobacco is comparatively more acceptable, affordable, and available"   Vinnie, Nada Health Advocate   Vinnie Choudhry is a student of management, pursuing her MBA from IIM Bangalore. She graduated in Economics from the University of Delhi. She has been associated with Nada India Foundation since her school days where she participated in a Pehchaan Radio club Show which waconducted to raise drug awareness amongst young people.  The following interview was conducted on phone with  Mr. Suneel Vatsyayan, founder of Nada India Foundation, which has been working for prevention of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs and non-communicable diseases for 20 years now. The organisation has been instrumental in rehabilitating the lives of several families whose members were caught in the web of addiction. Vinnie - Sir, Thanks for getting on call with us. Can you tell us about how you decided about setting up Nada India Founda...
Post a Comment
Read more