Alcohol’s hidden harms- effects on our health
Did you know that regularly drinking alcohol can lead to liver disease and even cancer?
The more you drink, and the more often, the greater the risk to your health. … Drinking less now can make a big difference to your health later on.
Liver health
Alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) refers to liver damage caused by excess alcohol intake. There are several stages of severity and a range of associated symptoms.
Watch this educational animation on liver health and disease prevention. Inspired by Jazzy, a teenagers living with Hepatitis C.
Find out about more about the health harms of alcohol
Drink driving
if you, or one of your friends/members of your family drive, you should never drink and drive as the potential impact on you and innocent parties can change lives forever. Don’t take a chance – it isn’t worth it.
Facts and figures
- Alcohol misuse costs England approximately £21bn per year in healthcare, crime and lost productivity costs
- It is estimated that 2.6 million children in the UK are living with parents who are drinking hazardously and 705,000 are living with dependent drinkers
- Average alcohol consumption has gradually fallen in many OECD countries between 1980 and 2009 with an average overall decrease of 9%. The United Kingdom however, has seen an increase of over 9% in these three decades
- Alcohol is a casual factor in more than 60 medical conditions, including: mouth, throat, stomach, liver and breast cancers; high blood pressure, cirrhosis of the liver; and depression
- Each week, more than two people die and around 180 are injured in collisions on the roads in the Thames Valley alone.
- The number of young drivers who are killed or seriously injured is disproportionately high
- Young drivers are more likely to be involved in a crash because of inexperience, lack of knowledge and sometimes irresponsibility.
Download the Drink Aware Alcohol and young people resource
Find out more how the danger at http://think.direct.gov.uk/education/secondary/
Get information about the Safe Drive Stay Alive tour at http://www.safedrive.org.uk/
Watch our video about the dangers of Drink/Drugs Driving
Teachers
Do you teach to young people aged 11-14?
Check these useful resources from the Think! website
Do you teach to young people aged 12-16?
Check these useful resources from the Think! website
There are also lots of educational material for teachers at https://resources.drinkaware.co.uk/Education