Millions of Germans drink too much alcohol

Over one million German alcohol addicts

24/06/2011

Millions of Germans are addicted to alcohol. Every day in Germany about 200 people die as a result of alcohol consumption and far more than new million people consume alcohol in this country „in health risky quantities“, reported the director of the Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) on Friday in Cologne.

In the run-up to World Drug Day on Sunday, the Federal Center for Health Education today pointed out that about 1.3 million people in Germany are alcohol dependent and about 9.5 million people in this country alcohol „in health risky quantities“ consume. The addictive potential and the health dangers of alcohol would be there „severely trivialized by adolescents and adults“, emphasized the director of the Federal Center for Health Education, Prof. Dr. med. Elisabeth Pott.

Alcohol damages almost all organs
Since alcohol is legal and relatively easily available, millions of Germans regularly take the bottle and apparently forget the health risks. Above all, the dramatic increase in the alcohol consumption of young people is the experts here concern. „Alcohol is the most widely used addictive substance in Germany“ and cause around 200 deaths a day, warned the BZgA director in the run-up to World Drug Day on Sunday. In Germany, according to Prof. Dr. med. Elisabeth Pott currently about 1.3 million people aged 18 to 65 years alcohol dependent. Many are unaware of the risks of their addiction and neglect that „Alcohol a cell poison“ is which „can damage almost all organs in the body and, for example, cause heart muscle and cancer“, explained the expert.

Around 9.5 million Germans drink too much
According to the BZgA director Prof. dr. Elisabeth Pott around 9.5 million people regularly drink hazardous amounts of alcohol. As a benchmark, the BZgA gives women a maximum of 12 grams per day of pure alcohol (a small glass of beer) and for men a maximum of 24 grams of pure alcohol (two small glasses of beer), which should be consumed at most five days a week. Any alcohol consumption that exceeds the stated guideline values ​​could lead to permanent, significant health impairments, said the director of the Federal Center for Health Education. However, only the least alcohol consumers seem to mind that. They ignore the health risks and often drink so much that hospitalization is required.

Significant health risks due to the trend to binge drinking
The number of alcohol-related hospital stays of persons between the ages of 40 and 50 years has risen massively in recent years, reports the BZgA. According to the BZgA, in 2009 about 25,000 people had to be treated for alcohol poisoning in the hospital and the development of the adolescents was even more dramatic. 26,000 adolescents between the ages of 10 and 20 were hospitalized in 2009 for alcohol poisoning. Thirteen percent of twelve to seventeen-year-olds consume alcoholic beverages at least once a week, and just under 17 percent of adolescents drink at least once a month until full frenzy, according to the BZgA. The trend towards binge drinking is a major problem for adolescents as well as adults, said the director of the BZgA. (Fp)

Picture: Christoph Aron