Drinking is a real medical problem for the young

Drunken bingeing by young people is a medical, as well as a social problem. Raising the age at which alcohol may be legally bought, rather than increasing the available deterrents to buying it, is unlikely to help. The Chief Constable of Cheshire rightly suggests that parents should have more influence. Unfortunately, the evidence is that even in happily functioning households, parents now have less influence, and peer groups a great deal more.

This week there has been talk of children as young as 11 binge drinking. Although the commentator was doubtless talking from his own experience, this is not yet the rule. When children binge drink, it is medically extremely dangerous and even an older adolescent may develop difficulties. Alcohol is rapidly absorbed in the young, raising blood sugar so sharply that the pancreas releases insulin. Unfortunately, it often releases too much so that the blood sugar falls to dangerously low levels. It is not uncommon in A&E departments to see 11 and 12-year-olds who are in hypoglycaemic comas.

Becoming accustomed to alcohol needs a mature metabolism and some graduated training. The real disasters in students are likely to occur in their first term. Even in the fully mature, alcohol is metabolised between a quarter and a third faster in regular steady drinkers. Excessive drinkers, who have already damaged their livers, have an ever lower ability to drink safely than young people.

Women are able to deal with alcohol less well than men. They become drunk more readily and sober up more slowly. Small quantities improve life expectancy but some will not be able to drink safely until after the menopause. It is not known why some young women, who may not even be getting drunk regularly, are now developing cirrhosis.

Times