newcastlecentric

Shocking news from the Journal, but not entirely surprising: people in Tyneside and the North East are drinking themselves to death.

According to an article in today’s edition, Government-commissioned research found drinking is costing the region a life a day, while men are losing a year of life expectancy and women are losing nearly six months.

In fact, Newcastle staggers in at the second worst city in the country for alcohol-related illnesses

Drinking is also causing one hell of a hangover; during 2006-2007, nearly 2,700 people claimed incapacity benefit because of alcoholism and there were nearly 18,000 cases of violence and over 300 incidents of sexual crime in the region attributed to booze.

The article quotes Newcastle liver specialist Christopher Record who says many of his patients are now in their 20s; the youngest was a 19 year old woman, who eventually died from liver disease.

Image courtesy of fragmented at Flickr. Some rights reserved

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