“Unfortunately Mother Nature was not a beer fan”
While it is prudent to be aware that Humberside police have started believing in urban myths that big cats and tigers are prowling the streets, I am very rarely inspired to linger on "Look North" or the weekly show "Inside Out" for more than a few moments. This was until I was stopped in my channel-hopping tracks by last Tuesday’s show, exploring binge drinking in women and the joys of liver cirrhosis. On the brink of my 21st birthday and all the alcohol fuelled revelry it will inevitably inspire it was more than a sobering thought to hear liver expert Dr. Chris Record previous case histories,
"The youngest patient I've had who died of alcoholic liver disease was a girl of 19. She had what we call oesophageal varices, she started bleeding and she bled to death. This is the kind of thing that can happen"
This girl was dead before most of us have completed our first year of university. I’m not afraid to admit I began to panic, and unfortunately my fears are well founded. The safe weekly allowance for women is 14 units. In terms we can all understand that is seven pints A WEEK, not an evening. One of the Weatherspoons large glasses of wine is 2 units. A single shot is one unit. Take a look at a big night out, for the sake of argument the Micklegate run. Two large glasses of wine at the Punch Bowl, four units. A vodka and coke at the Firkin, one unit. A triple for single at the Nags Head, at least three units (total of eight so far, you keeping up?). That is over half my safe allowance and I haven’t even reached Ziggy’s.
As I struggle to face the idea of death whilst yellow from serious liver disease at the tender age of 30, I’m looking around for something other than my weak will power to blame. The biggest problem is that while I may head in to town with the best intentions of moderation, (and the added bonus of preserving my dignity as I keep control of myself for a change) the temptation is all around me. Drinking games, shooters, the latest gross combinations of curdled Baileys and a lurid Aftershock. And, most significantly for our generation of empowered ladies, the idea that we can keep up with the lads in every way. Unfortunately Mother Nature was not a beer fan, and the female body is physically less able to process alcohol as successfully as the boys. It is not about conditioning or practising throwing as much cider down your gullet as possible to compete with the blurry-eyed blokes. It is a fact of science that we should not drink as much, and if we try we will die very much sooner. It is a fact that no amount of equal rights legislation can change.
Loading ...