Booze: dangers of your daily tipple
The untimely deaths of Avicii and Verne Troyer have once again highlighted the devastating effects of alcoholism
THEY were two stars from different sides of the entertainment world who had a lot in common – success, money and the respect of the industries they dedicated their professional lives to. But they shared something else too – chronic alcohol addiction and the dark demons of depression.
And when award-winning Swedish DJ Avicii (28) and US actor Verne Troyer (49) died within a day of each other, their fans were shocked and saddened.
Both fought a long battle with the bottle. Avicii, whose real name was Tim Bergling, had his appendix and gallbladder removed at the age of 21 after an acute bout of pancreatitis brought on by excessive drinking.
“Yeah, I was drinking way too much, partying in general way too much,” he told Time magazine at the time.
“Then I got a pancreatitis attack, which is very rare. So that forced me to do a 180 and stop drinking.”
But the Without You hitmaker’s conviction was short-lived. Not long afterwards he confessed he was still drinking more than he should’ve been although, he added, he “never drinks two days in a row”.
Avicii died of an apparent suicide, it seems, after being driven to despair by a punishing work schedule and ongoing health problems.
For Verne, too, the warning signs had been there years before his sudden death.
In 2002 the actor, best known for his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers films, nearly lost his life after suffering alcohol poisoning. Last year Verne checked into hospital for two weeks in a bid to get a handle on his addiction, reassuring fans by saying “with your support, I got this”. But sadly alcoholism and depression caught up with him too. “It’s with great sadness and incredibly heavy hearts we write that Verne passed away today,” his family wrote on the star’s Instagram page. “You never really know what kind of battle someone is going through inside.”
FRESH research into the dangers of alcohol made headlines shortly before the death of the two stars. An exhaustive study that was released by the University of Cambridge in England came to a single conclusion: if you drink more than
350g or 43,75 units of alcohol a week you’re effectively shaving years off your life. “The study challenges the widely held belief that moderate drinking is beneficial to cardiovascular health,” the authors say. Researchers worked through 83 studies from 19 countries involving nearly 600 000 people and concluded you live four to five years less if by the age of 40 you drink on average 25 bottles of beer (330ml each) or 18 glasses of wine (175ml each) a week. And this applies to both men and women, who are equally at a higher risk of stroke, fatal aneurysm, heart failure and death. It’s frightening stuff – but Sonelle van der Linde, a dietician from Bloemfontein, says there are ways to enjoy a drink without going into the danger zone. “Choose what you enjoy but stick to the recommended amount,” she says. Red wine contains an antioxidant that protects the heart and it also contains less sugar than sweeter varieties of white wine and other alcoholic drinks. Light beer, wine and cider are healthier than their regular counterparts as they contain less alcohol and have a lower sugar content. If you prefer hard tack such as whiskey and vodka, you shouldn’t exceed 12 shots of 25ml each a week. And mix them with sugarfree mixers or soda water to keep down the sugar content. Another way to protect your health is to have a glass of water for each alcoholic beverage, which will keep you hydrated and lower the speed at which you drink.
There are also many alcohol- and sugarfree drinks on the market that mimic the taste of the real thing.
A virgin gin and tonic might not give you the buzz of the hard stuff but it’s a good alternative once you’ve reached your weekly limit. And you could live longer too.
‘You never really know what kind of battle someone is going through inside’