INCREASING numbers of Scots are literally drinking themselves senseless, according to new figures released yesterday.
A total of 540 Scots were discharged from hospitals with alcohol-related brain damage in 2006-7 – a rise of 16 per cent on the last figure, taken in 2003-4, of 463.
More than a third of cases came from Greater Glasgow, with 202, up from 179 in 200
3-4. The west of Scotland now has the highest rate of people suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome in western Europe.
Alcohol-related brain damage is an umbrella term for a number of conditions, and Korsakoff's syndrome is the primary one. The condition is the result of vitamin B deficiency from years of alcohol abuse and not eating properly. It causes large-scale memory loss and is classed as a form of dementia. Although cutting out alcohol can stop further deterioration, existing damage can never be reversed.
Most sufferers, once diagnosed, require a high level of care for the rest of their lives.
In the Lothians, hospitals discharged 79 people with alcohol-related brain damage in 2006-7, up from 54 in 2003-4. In Tayside, the figure grew from 27 to 42 and in Lanarkshire, there was an increase of 35 to 46. NHS Fife reported more than a doubling of alcohol-related brain damage patients, from 16 in 2003-4 to 36 in 2006-7.
One health board showed a marked reduction. NHS Forth Valley had 21 patients in 2003-4, but just 11 in 2006-7.
Conservative MSP Mary Scanlon, whose parliamentary question revealed the figures, said: "The increase in people suffering from alcohol-related brain disease shows the hidden effect of Scotland's dangerous relationship with alcohol."
She added: "The Scottish Parliament needs to address the issue of the growing number who are causing themselves irreversible brain damage through alcohol abuse."
The full article contains 315 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
