The North East Big Drink Debate was launched to encourage us to have a more balanced attitude towards alcohol. Health Editor Barry Nelson meets an expert who knows the worst that drink can do.

MOST of us like a drink and some of us occasionally drink too much, though generally speaking, most of are pretty relaxed about the amount of alcohol we consume. But consultant gastro- enterologist Dr Chris Record thinks it is time all of us took the Government health warnings on drinking deadly seriously.

The fact that the Department of Health recommends that women should drink no more than three small glasses of wine a day, and men should not exceed a daily total of two pints of ordinary- strength beer has had little effect on our love affair with booze, with many North-East drinkers shrugging off the advice and getting stuck in most days.

But perhaps we really should listen to Dr Record when he tells us that the daily limits really do matter and we ignore them at our peril. We should listen to Dr Record because he has 30 years of experience as a liver specialist at one of the region’s largest hospitals.

In that time he has seen a steep increase in the number of people dying from alcohol-related liver disease – and he is sickened by the needless loss of so many lives.

“When I do my ward round at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, half or three-quarters of the ward is full of people with terminal liver disease as a result of drinking too much,” he says, matter-of-factly.

BUT surely most of these people are hard-core alcoholics?

This is far from the truth, says Dr Record, who sees patients from all walks of life and all social classes, including many who do not see themselves as heavy drinkers.

“I see people who are drinking at what they regard as social levels who get into trouble because of liver disease,” the consultant explains. “If you think of the average housewife drinking half a bottle of wine a day, plus a few gin-and-tonics, some of these women will develop liver failure and die.”

Dr Record admits that there is “quite a bit of variation” when it comes to how much alcohol someone can consume without causing damage, but if you drink heavily over a sustained period you will eventually experience problems.

“Some people can take a moderate amount of alcohol and escape any damage, but another person drinking the same amount will develop organ damage.

It is all a question of how much alcohol you consume.

“If you regularly exceed the safe limits, you are putting yourself at risk. The risk is small at the start, but the more you exceed the safe limits and the longer you do it for, the greater the risk you are taking.

“The trouble with alcohol is that there are few symptoms,” Dr Record says. “People don’t know they are getting damage until the liver fails. Maybe a quarter of patients who develop liver failure will die at their first presentation so it is very important that people recognise that they can’t carry on drinking without consequences.”

It is the sheer volume of booze that people are putting away these days that concerns Dr Record, who has been involved in campaigning for legislation to force drinks manufacturers to display the total of units of alcohol on every can or bottle. That campaign has been partially successful, but not every can and bottle carries units of alcohol information.

“Alcohol consumption in the UK has been rocketing. It has gone up from 6.9 litres of pure alcohol per person per annum to 11.2 litres in the past 20 years.

That is an enormous increase of something like 70 per cent. The amount of damage done has rocketed as well,” he says.

“We are seeing far more patients with alcoholic liver disease and the age is coming down all the time.”

The consultant estimates that 40 per cent of the patients he now sees are under the age of 40. “We have many patients in their 20s and 30s who are developing terminal liver disease as a result of alcohol and this is because young people are continuing to drink at higher levels.”

Dr Record is very hopeful that this week’s launch of the North East Big Drink Debate will help us all to sober up.

“Over the years we have had far too much talking and not enough action. We are finally starting to get some action. The setting up of Balance, the North-East alcohol agency, is terribly important in my view.”

THAT is why, on Tuesday, Dr Record joined members of Balance in Newcastle city centre during the launch of the North East Big Drink Debate. He would like to see the introduction of minimum prices for alcohol and the end to cut-price drink promotions, so young people are no longer able to buy very cheap lager from bars, pubs and especially their local supermarket, cross-subsidised by non-alcohol sales. He would also like to see some limitation of hours.

“At the moment supermarkets can sell alcohol for 24 hours a day.

Maybe they shouldn’t be allowed to sell alcohol after 7pm. I am afraid that supermarkets are the number one enemy.”

While he urges everyone to think seriously about how often and how much they drink, Dr Record says most people who develop medical problems because of drinking can recover by just stopping drinking and allowing their liver to recover.

“I am extremely blunt with my patients. When someone comes to me with liver disease, I tell them that if they continue to drink they are going to die. But if they stop drinking there is always a chance because the liver has amazing powers of recovery.”

northeastbigdrinkdebate.org.uk