A LEADING medic at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary today warned of the growing toll of Scots’ drinking habits as new figures showed liver disease deaths at the hospital have doubled in seven years.
The hospital, which is a referral centre for acute cases from across the whole of Scotland, had 67 fatalities from cirrhosis of the liver in 2005. A further 17 people died from the disease at the Western General Hospital in 2005 which, along with 2003, is the highest level for eight years.
Professor Peter Hayes today said there had been an “exponential rise” in cases among middle-aged men, in particular, in recent years which was showing no signs of slowing.
“The main problem is alcohol,” he said. “On the Continent, the problem seemed to peak in the 1970s and 1980s and cases have been falling since. They’re doing something very right, we’re doing something very wrong. I suspect it’s down to culture and the amount we consume.”
Prof Hayes, of the department of hepatology at the ERI, said more than half the cases were due to long-term alcohol abuse, typically people who have drunk a bottle of spirits a day for 20 years.
However, obese people and drug users who contracted hepatitis C by sharing needles in the 1970s and 1980s also account for a large proportion.
Prof Hayes warned that these health problems – although not as high as in some areas such as Paisley, near Glasgow – are growing in Edinburgh and Lothian.
“Deaths from liver disease in the UK, and Scotland in particular – and among middle-aged men in particular – are rising exponentially. Figures published in 2006 showed deaths in Scotland just massively increased, almost rising in a straight line.
“This is a national problem but one we are also seeing in Edinburgh and the Lothians.
“The problem is worse in Paisley, for example, but I’m sure it’s going up in Edinburgh, probably at the same rate just starting at a lower level.”
Some people are showing the signs of long-term alcohol abuse after just a few years of drinking, and there are also more female patients, but the most common sufferers continue to be men in their 50s and 60s.
Prof Hayes said: “We do see people in their 20s, they always catch your eye because they are so young, but the majority are older, and we still get more men than women.
“Alcohol is undoubtedly the most important reason for the rise. Hepatitis C is increasing – it takes a long time to cause sclerosis – but we are seeing a lot of people now who may have experimented with drugs, even just for a short time, 20 or 30 years ago.
“The third factor is obesity and diabetes. People are getting obese younger but living longer because of efforts to stop them dying from heart disease. This is putting pressure on their liver.”
Across Scotland 976 people died from liver disease in 2005, along with the same figure in 2003, the highest in eight years.
The figures, obtained by SNP MSP Christine Grahame, also showed that in 2005, 41,250 people were discharged from Scottish hospitals with an explicit diagnosis of an alcohol-related condition, 5441 in the Lothians.
She said the best way of turning the corner was by targeting the next generation of drinkers.
“We have to go back into schools with a determined education message,” she said.
“We think we’re immortal when we are young. When we do find young people with extreme difficulty with drinking we have to find residential places for them straight away.”

Source: Scotsman.com 27th Jan 2007