Takeheart Health Check      

• In a study in Glasgow 34% of people denied drinking any alcohol, 24% drank more than 20 units per week and 5% over 40.(11)
• East Anglian households spend £7.50 on alcohol each week.(129)
• 11% of men in East Anglia drink more than 3.5 pints three times a week.(129)
• 8% of the population are heavy drinkers, 2% are problem drinkers and 0.4% are alcohol dependent.(136)
• Alcohol related sickness and absenteeism costs industry £641 million per year.(158)
• Accidents and poor performance related to alcohol may cost £1.5 billion.(159)
• At least a fifth of all accidents at work are alcohol related.(160)
• The cost of treating alcohol related disease is £167 million per year.(68)
• Alcohol is estimated to cause 28,000 excess deaths per year in England and Wales.(181) 2,000,000 deaths per year worldwide. (484)
• Up to one fifth of admissions to hospital of men are alcohol related.(262)
• At least 27 per cent of men exceed recommended drink limits.
• By the age of 11 years at least 80 per cent of boys have tasted alcohol.
• More than 30 per cent of 13 to 16 year old boys drink at least weekly.
• Brief interventions by GPs are effective (577).
• Where alcohol abuse runs in the family, genetic inheritance contributes a third, and environment two-thirds of the causation.

Gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT) is an enzyme found in the blood. It is found in excess when the liver is being stressed by alcohol. There are other conditions and some drugs which will cause an abnormal reading, but these are not common in apparently well people.
Takeheart measures the gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase and by that means introduces the subject of alcohol. It appears to be effective in identifying those with a problem though there are a few false positives and negatives which can be explored by question and answer.
There is evidence that moderate amounts of alcohol are good for the heart. (68, 199, 317, 357, 407, 414, 457, 474)
There is also evidence that immoderate drinking is bad for the heart.(29)

The French Paradox

According to the Sunday Times (23/7/2000 page 23)

• Proportion of people aged 16-24 who regularly drink twice the recommended daily limit: men 38%, women 21%.
• Proportion of college students admitting drinking to excess regularly: men 61%, women 48%.
• Alcohol consumed by 11-15 year olds in a week: 5.5million units, equivalent to 2.75million pints.
• Alcohol misuse contributes to: 40% of violent crime, 78% of assaults, 88% of criminal damage cases. Some 13,000 violent incidents take place near licensed premises each week.
• The physical cost: alcohol is associated with 30,000 deaths a year, 76,000 hospital cases of facial injury, 65% of suicide attempts and 23% of calls to child neglect helplines.

• C - "Have you ever felt that you should Cut down on your drinking?"
• A - "Have people Annoyed you by criticising your drinking?"
• G - "Have you ever felt Guilty about your drinking?"
• E - Eye-opener. "Have you ever had a drink first thing in the morning to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover?"

Quotes from the Sunday Times of 5th October 2008.
In the UK 12,000,000 people with a 'hazardous' alcohol problem; 800,000+ hospitalised annually owing to alcohol consumption; £2.7 billion annual cost to NHS of alcohol related hospital visits; 600,000 underage drinkers; 20,000+ alcohol related deaths a year; £4,500 the cost of a 10 day private rehab programme; 5 rehab places a year on the NHS for every 100 alcoholics; alcohol related hospital admissions rise by 80,000 every year; UK is 7th amongst 45 countries in the amount consumed per capita.

Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy for England

Try this link - Alcohol wrecked my life.

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