Are we drinking too much? New report shows rises in death due to Liver Disease

Today a new report warns that the number of people dying from liver disease in England is on the increase, with the most common factor for mortality being attributed to unhealthy lifestyles and consequently preventable.

The report “Deaths from liver disease: Implications for the end of life care in England” the first ever national report on the statistics published by the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network, shows that between 2001 and 2009 there has been a 25 percent rise in liver disease deaths (from 9,231 to 11,575 people).

Figures indicate that although the numbers of deaths from cancer, vascular and respiratory disease still remain significantly higher, liver disease disproportionately kills people at a much younger age.

Alarmingly 90 percent of people who die from liver disease are under 70 years old and more than 1 in 10 are in their 40s.  The report also highlights that more men (60 percent) than women (40 percent) die from liver disease.

Lifestyle and Liver disease

Although there are many reasons for liver disease, the most common cause is alcohol related.

The British Liver Trust says that a healthy liver should contain little or no fat.  Fatty liver, where the liver contains too much fat, is regarded as the most common forms of liver disease.  The effects of having fat in the liver over a long duration of time may lead to inflammation causing swelling (hepatitis) and then scarring (fibrosis).  Where the condition may be the result of excess alcohol, it is referred to as alcoholic liver disease.

Alcoholic liver disease is the most common and preventable type of liver disease.  It accounts for over a third of all liver disease deaths and kills 3,880 people annually.  The figure for men is considerably higher at 2,588 deaths compared to that of women 1,292 deaths.  Regionally, the report demonstrates that alcoholic liver disease death is most prevalent in the North West, South East and West Midlands.  However, for both male and female the highest mortality rate is in the North West, approximately double that of the lowest in the East of England.

The Chief Executive of Alcohol Concern, Eric Appleby, said: "This report shows that loss of life through alcoholic liver disease remains as big a problem as ever, with a worrying tendency for those with the highest deprivation to suffer most, leading to a distinct north/south divide.

Cause for Concern

Liver disease is regarded as a challenging area for public health.  With over 70 percent of people with liver disease dying in hospital, patients tend to be younger, from poor socio-economic backgrounds (although this is not always the case) and often come from either isolated or ethnically diverse subcultures.  Those dying of alcoholic liver disease may have mental health problems drug dependency issues, which could further isolate them socially.  Additionally, people may feel stigmatised by their disease because of its degenerative nature.

Professor Martin Lombard, National Clinical Director for Liver Disease, said: "The key drivers for increasing numbers of deaths from liver disease are all preventable, such as alcohol, obesity, hepatitis C and hepatitis B. We must focus our efforts and tackle this problem sooner rather than later."

What can you do?

One of the key objectives of the Government’s White Papers Liberating the NHS and Healthy Lives, Healthy People, was to reduce mortality in people under 75 years of age.

The report shows that death from liver disease can affect any one of us and is largely the result of our lifestyle.  Rises in alcohol consumption and obesity are clearly huge areas for concern.  Therefore, in order to tackle the issues and reduce mortality rates, advocates believe we need to address the underlying causes of liver disease.  It becomes essential that we help to educate people about the consequences of unhealthy living and ways to improve their lives, as well as, reaching out to the most deprived and isolated people in society.

Prof Julia Verne, lead author of the report and clinical lead for the National End of Life Care Intelligence Network, said: "It is crucial that commissioners and providers of health and social care services know the prevalence of liver disease in their local areas, so that more people can receive the care they need to allow them to die in the place of their choosing."

RSPH Training Solutions offer a number of low cost training programmes on health improvement, JSNA’s, and provide training on key aspects of health to help you, help others and people in your community to lead longer and healthier lives.  For more information click here.

Health Warnings Over Rises in Shisha Bars

Today is No Smoking Day, and several newspapers have highlighted the growing concern of the rise in shisha cafes and the lack of health awareness of the harm they can cause.

Data from the Freedom of Information (FoL) taken from 133 local authorities in major cities around the UK shows that the number of shisha cafes/bars have increased by 210 percent since 2007.

Smoking shisha has become a fashionable pastime for many young people falsely believing it to be safer and less harmful than smoking cigarettes.  However, strong evidence suggests that a typical one hour session of smoking shisha is equivalent to inhaling the same amount of smoke as from more than 100 tobacco cigarettes. 

The Medical Director of the British Heart Foundation Dr Mike Knapton said that waterpipe smokers should not be “duped by the sweet and wholesome sounding fruity flavours, if you use shisha you are a smoker and that means you’re putting your health at risk.”

Shisha smoking is linked to the same kinds of diseases as cigarette smoking including heart disease, cancer, respiratory disease and problems during pregnancy.  However there are added risks because you often smoke it for a greater length of time than you would a cigarette and you are also exposed to toxins from the wood or charcoal used to burn the tobacco. 

Worryingly, statistics demonstrate that more than one in ten UK Adults (13 percent) continue to think that are no health harms from using shisha.  This could explain the subsequent rises in shisha users and the increase of shisha cafes around the UK.

Tobacco consumption has been linked to a high death rate worldwide with 5 million deaths each year and is considered to be the second major cause of death in the world that is completely preventable.

 

No Smoking Day is a great opportunity for anyone who smokes to try and quit.  However, thousands of quitters could be putting their health at risk by using shisha as an alternative.  More information needs to provided to people so they become educated and clued up on the high health risks associated with shisha.  

For further reading on the harmful affects of shisha smoking click here

If you are interested in quitting smoking or for further advice on the steps to help you stop smoking visit the NHS Choices Website  

RSPH report: the future for public health learning and development

"Paving the Way"

The Royal Society for Public Health has commissioned an in-depth report into the future learning and development landscape for the wider public health workforce.

Although the broad context for health improvement is well established, its architecture is undergoing a radical shift, from a health led service towards a public health system that is local authority led.

The report is based on interviews with people in a wide range of public health roles; in both practice and learning settings, Local Authorities, the NHS, and the third and the independent sectors.

The findings highlight the complexity of developing effective education and learning to support health improvement and the changes that will be needed to ensure that the workforce can operate effectively in the new environment. In particular:

·         ‘Health Improvement’ is still not a clearly understood term, and it is used to mean different things by various parts of the workforce.

·         Each area of the workforce has a different culture and uses specialist terminology in their work. This causes difficulties as they start to work together.

·         The traditional format of training is no longer appropriate, and new approaches are needed to support learning for the new public health workforce.

This report informs future education and learning in the light of the forthcoming Public Health Workforce Strategy. RSPH wants to share the learning from this work with practitioners and policy makers to stimulate, inform and shape ongoing discussions and bridge the gap between the policy and practice. The intention is to create an ongoing dialogue recognising that the best solutions are co-created.

For a copy of the final report contact Gina Mohajer on gmohajer@rsph.org.uk or download it from the RSPH website here>

Celebrating International Women's Day

- Remembering the importance of health and well-being

March 8th is International Women’s Day , a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future.    Today not only signifies the great work that women are carrying out, it also highlights the struggles and barriers that women face around the world, and why the search for change and equality continues.

  

To coincide with International Women's Day, RSPH Training Solutions has developed a one day programme on Women’s Health and Well-being to highlight the importance of women's health, whilst educating participants on how to empower women to live longer, healthier and happier lives.

All to often, in our busy lifestyles we forget the importance of looking after our health. But our health and mental well-being not only affects us, it has an impact on our family, friends and our wider community.  Therefore, although today is a celebration of women's achievement, we believe that maintaining good health should be a priority and practised everyday.    

The Women's Health and Well-being programme will examine the five essential elements of health and wellbeing – eat well, sleep well, play well, relax well, and move well, particularly as they relate to female hormonal changes at different stages of life.  Each is important for protection against certain conditions such obesity, diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis.

After attending this day you will be equipped to play your part in improving the health of your community by identifying opportunities to improve women’s health and wellbeing, and evaluating what works best.

Anyone who works in a voluntary organisation, education or health and social care, with responsibility for health education, well-being, exercise, nutrition or personal care, will benefit from this new programme. For further information on the programme and to book your place please click here or contact Gina Mohajer