999 children a year, that’s an emergency
Drink/drugs hospitalisations revealed
‘Those figures are shocking’ ‘Now as many females as males’
AT least three children end up in hospital every day having taken alcohol or drugs, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
And while the HSE figures are shocking, the true total is likely to be treble that, according to one liver specialist who is treating more and more young people.
Dr Orla Crosbie, of Cork University Hospital, said patients used to typically get cirrhosis of the liver in their 50s or 60s but she is now seeing people in their 40s, 30s – and some even in their 20s – presenting with the often fatal illness.
The HSE data, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows under-18s are routinely being hospitalised and treated for drug- and alcohol-related illnesses. In the ten-year period between 2006 and 2015, 10,784 children have been discharged from our hospitals following alcoholor drugs-related illnesses.
The most recent figures show 999 people aged under 18 were discharged from public hospitals in 2015 after taking drink or drugs. But Dr Crosbie warned the true number could be three times higher as the 999 figure doesn’t include young people treated by their GP or in A&Es unless they are kept overnight.
She said: ‘We are certainly seeing people presenting with liver disease at a younger age all the time, so they must be starting their drinking career earlier for that to happen.’ Tallaght Hospital has seen the greatest number of minors treated for alcohol- or drug-induced illnesses.
Of the figures for treatment of this nature, discharges from Tallaght Hospital account for nearly 12% of discharges nationally.
In the ten-year period between 2006 and 2015, an astonishing 1,253 children and teenagers under 18 were diagnosed at Tallaght with an illness where drugs or alcohol were involved.
And figures have begun to rise over the latter four years since they hit a ten-year low in 2011. In 2011 there were at least 946 recorded discharges compared with as many as 999 in 2015.
The figures cover children and teenagers who were treated for toxic effects and mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol, opioids, cannabis, cocaine, sedatives or hypnotics as well as poisoning by systemic antibiotics, among others.
But the figures provided by the HSE record only day-patient and inpatient activity. They do not account for emergency department or outpatient data.
On the latest worrying trend of people in their 20s suffering liver problems due to drink and drug abuse, Dr Crosbie said: ‘I have seen people with cirrhosis (liver disease) in their 20s. Not huge numbers but I have seen people that have admitted to having been drinking since they were 16 – they may well have started even younger. For any organ if you started drinking younger, your risk of getting damage is going to happen at a younger age.
‘If you start drinking younger, you are more likely to get liver disease at a younger age, you are more likely to get heart disease at a younger age and I would seriously worry about the impact on brain function.
‘It is not unusual to see patients in their 30s and 40s with cirrhosis where, 20 years ago it was more people in their 50s and 60s.’
And Dr Crosbie added: ‘As well as seeing people younger, we are now seeing as many females as we are males.’
Solamh’s Joanna Fortune, who specialises in child and adolescent psychotherapy, said what is being observed now in young people is a crisis. ‘There is a pattern that children are accessing alcohol much younger. It is 12, 13 for some young people,’ she said. Ms Fortune said the figures expose an accepted culture of alcohol dependency in Ireland. ‘It’s not just a teenage or adolescent issue,’ she said. ‘We all need to take a deeper look at our relationship with alcohol.
‘Figures like these really should bring it home to people.’
She added that leading by example and taking steps to delay the point of contact at which minors begin to consume alcohol will help stop the rot. ‘If we can delay the point of access as long as possible that’s in their interest,’ she added.
WHILE the numbers of teenagers attending A&E with alcohol-related problems remains unacceptably high, the record number of children and younger teenagers suffering from the effects of intoxication is a fresh cause for alarm.
According to HSE figures released under the Freedom of Information Act, 999 youngsters aged 17 and under were discharged from hospitals in 2015 after suffering drug- or alcohol-related illnesses.
Figures over the last decade show that almost three minors are discharged each day from hospitals. Experts however believe the real figure may be three times higher as the number of young people who are treated by their GPs for intoxication or who are discharged after having their stomach pumped without spending the night in hospital are not reflected in the official figures.
The burden underage drinking places on the health service is twofold: it heaps further pressure on our emergency services and in the long term it creates significant health problems in the population.
Studies show that the earlier children are introduced to alcohol, the more they will drink as adults. Heavy teenage drinkers can experience problems with bone density, growth, hormone development and liver function.
It is also suspected that alcohol and drug abuse causes brain damage and slows cognitive development. Youngsters are also ill-equipped to deal with the psychological effects of alcohol abuse which blurs boundaries and reduces inhibitions leading to antisocial or over-sexualised behaviour.
We have made some progress highlighting healthy eating and tackling obesity in children. It’s time now the HSE in tandem with our schools and parent bodies also raises awareness of alcohol abuse.
If the message about sugary drinks increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes and heart disease has been finally hammered home, there is no reason why the devastating effects of alcohol on young bodies cannot become part of a public health campaign.