Alcohol Prevention Day is celebrated on April 18th, the world day for the prevention of alcohol abuse. A day to reflect and intervene on an increasingly current issue-problem. In 2022, 8 million consumers at risk and 3 million, 700 thousand binge drinkers, 770 thousand already have undetected alcohol damage. The increase in drinkers has high frequencies in the most vulnerable targets of the population: minors, young people, women, the elderly. Drinking to get drunk does not spare the elderly, among whom the highest frequencies of harmful consumers with undetected alcohol use disorders are recorded. Consumption between meals is constantly increasing, particularly among women (23.2%) with 1 million women getting drunk.
In 2022, approximately 8 million Italians over the age of 11 (equal to 21.2% of men and 9.1% of women) drank quantities of alcohol that put their health at risk. Three million and 700 thousand people drank to get drunk and 770,000 were harmful consumers, i.e. those who consumed alcohol causing damage to their health, on a physical or mental level. Consumers at risk have increased, particularly for men, and the achievement of the Sustainable Health Goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda remains distant.
Alcohol addiction, Jeffrey Guss: “There is a psychedelic drug to cure alcoholism” by Valeria Pini 15 March 2024
The report of the Alcohol Observatory
Taking the photograph was, like every year, the National Alcohol Observatory of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Ona-Iss)which he reworked through the Earthquake (Alcohol Monitoring System), also for the National Statistical Programme, the data from Multiscopo Istat, on the occasion of Alcohol Prevention Day (Apd). Data presented on April 18, during an international workshop scheduled at the ISS headquarters.
“Alcohol consumption in Italy highlights a consolidated and worrying situation of increased risk which is spreading among the most vulnerable groups of the population: minors, adolescents, women and the elderly – he states Emanuele Scafato, Director of Ona-ISS -. In order to outline the roadmap for a renewed national and regional prevention, the most effective possible, it is necessary to intercept all at-risk consumers early and ensure that those with alcohol impairments and those dependent on alcohol are treated, to support individuals, families and the objectives of the strategies European and global ones in which we are engaged”.
They worry young people and women
The picture of the 36 million alcohol consumers in Italy, equal to 77.4% of males and 57.5% of females, is rich in detail. Ten million two hundred thousand Italians over the age of 18 drank alcohol daily. Among consumers at risk, young people (around 1,310,000 between the ages of 11 and 24, of which 650,000 minors) and women (around 2.5 million, with 15.5% of consumers at risk among minors) are of particular concern 11-17 year olds).
The 3.7 million binge drinkers stand out, especially males of all ages (104,000 are minors). Here too there is a decrease towards 2020 levels, but not for women who are stable, therefore without any mention of a drop in consumption aimed at intoxication. Furthermore, there were 770,000 harmful consumers of alcoholic beverages.
Among women, high numbers continue to be recorded, in fact there are 290,000 consumers with alcohol damage. Of the 770,000 harmful consumers with alcohol use disorders (DUA) in need of treatment, only 8.2% were clinically intercepted, for a total of 62,886 alcohol dependents managed by the services of the National Health System (SSN), with constant and worrying decrease compared to the expected harmful consumers. The data from the Emur system of the Ministry of Health shows and testifies to the consequences of what has been described so far. In 2022, 39,590 visits to the emergency room were recorded – of which 10.4% were requested by minors – marking an increase of 12.1% in one year.
Neurologists: “There is a risk at any age”
The Italian Society of Neurology (Sin) also intervenes on the subject, underlining that “alcohol abuse is among the main causes of increased risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease”, as emerges from a study just published in Nature Communications. “This initiative is an excellent opportunity to talk about the problem with young people by providing them with the knowledge necessary to manage situations involving alcohol, because even those who would not normally be attracted to alcohol can give in to the psychological pressure of the group – explains Sin -. In the USA before the age of 21, alcohol abuse is one of the main preventable causes of death for road accidents, homicides, binge drinking (alcohol overdose), falls, burns, drownings and suicides the situation does not change much: the Itisan 2023 Report of the ISS indicates that alcohol is the third factor for the risk of disease and premature death after smoking and arterial hypertension”.
“In adults, the role of adults in shaping young people’s attitudes towards alcohol is fundamental to defend them both from the serious personal, family and social problems induced by abuse, and from the serious consequences this has on their brain – continues Sin -. On the opposite side, there is abuse by the elderly, reported among others by the American addiction centers according to which alcohol is the most used substance of abuse after the age of 65. And Samhsa (Substance abuse and mental health services administration) highlights that 11% of them are affected by binge drinking, i.e. alcohol consumption which, according to the US CDC, determines a plasma concentration equal to or greater than 0.08 g/dl”. In the elderly, the experts point out, “this can lead to dehydration, interactions with the various drugs that they often take due to the comorbidities they often carry such as diabetes, hypertension, myocardial disease, liver disease, osteoporosis, memory and mood disorders “.
Alcohol, smoking and nutrition, ISS: “No improvement in Italy in 15 years” by Irma D’Aria 14 December 2023
Drinking promotes Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
“An Anglo-Canadian study just published on Nature Communications indicates that alcohol abuse, together with diabetes and nitrogen dioxide (an index of air pollution from traffic), also constitutes one of the main causes of increased risk of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease – states the president of Sin , Alessandro Padovani, of the University of Brescia -. As we indicated in the One brain one health Manifesto, which summarizes the Italian strategy for brain health 2023-2031, today we are exposed to various cumulative risk factors that require a holistic approach that considers them all. So not only the already known hypertension, diabetes and obesity, but also factors related to lifestyle such as physical exercise and alcohol consumption”. “Also the Global burden of disease study, conducted for 10 years by the WHO – concludes Padovani -, noted that health is a matter of the individual, and it is the events of his life, from possible head traumas to incorrect and modifiable lifestyles, that determine the risk of disease not only of the nervous system”.