More seeking alcohol abuse treatment
The number of people seeking treatment for problem alcohol use is increasing, the Health Research Board says.
A total of 16,020 cases were treated in Ireland between 2004 and 2006.
The number of new cases treated for alcohol has risen by 21%, from 2,827 in 2004 to 3,432 in 2006.
The number of cases who returned for treatment also increased.
The increase in numbers could be explained by an increase in problematic alcohol use, an increase in the number of service providers reporting treated cases, or a combination of these two factors.
But whatever the case, these figures do not include all of the cases yet, so the treatment figures should rise.
More than one in five treated alcohol cases reported that they had also used other drugs, according to the research, highlighting the association between alcohol and other recreational drugs.
In 2004 the top three additional drugs used were cannabis, followed by ecstasy and then cocaine. In 2005 and 2006, the rank order changed, with cocaine ranked second and ecstasy ranked third.
Research has shown that the use of these two drugs together results in the formation of cocaethylene, which increases the cardiotoxic effects of cocaine alone.
More than one in four of the new cases who presented for treatment had started drinking by the time they were 15 years old, and a similar number had started using illicit drugs by that age.
RTÉ News
<< Home