Over the years, alcohol consumption has been a practice in different countries all over the world. For whatever reasons, it is evident that drinking has been rampant in different locations. For both developed and developing countries, alcohol is enjoyed in many ways like business and social functions, celebrations and religious and cultural ceremonies. With such, the rates of risks and incidences related to alcohol consumption also remains to be at an indefinite high. In the website of Centers for Disease Control and prevention, it is mentioned that the alcohol in the content of the drinks is affecting every organ in the human body. Being a central nervous system depressant, alcohol is absorbed rapidly from the small intestine and the stomach into the blood stream. The effect or intensity of the impact of alcohol on the human body is highly dependent on how much has been consumed. To be able to lessen the risk associated with alcohol, moderate consumption should be practiced to be bale to potentially rid the body of the chemicals which can harm the body.
Over the century, in the landscape of the United Kingdom, alcohol consumption has been playing a major part in the lives of the people. Alcohol consumption in the British society is said to have cause the rise and the fall of the government, financed wars, civil disorder, and at the worst, even acts of terrorism. Statistics show that in other countries, alcohol drinking has been reduced into a significant lower level while in Britain, it keeps on increasing through the years even at an earlier age. Authorities are already concerned with their drinking pattern because more and more problems due to alcohol consumption continue to increase. And one of the most pressing among these problems is the increase in mortality rate in the country because of the adverse effects of excessive alcohol consumption.
OBJECTIVES
In the course of this research, it is the aim of the researcher to examine the patterns of alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom and how such consumption affects the lives of the people in ways which were just too many, including how it affects the increasing mortality rate. It is the objective of this research to present various literatures and insight which can provide information behind alcohol drinking in the United Kingdom and also statistics which will provide us an understanding on measures imposed by the authorities related to alcohol in order to combat the perpetual increase of mortality rate because of this problem.
METHODOLOGY
To successfully carry out the objectives of this research, the researcher will utilize the use of secondary data which ae highly available for the purpose of studying the problem at hand. Secondary data sources involve a variety of sources including but not limited to books, academic journals, scholastic articles, and the internet among other sources. The wide availability of such will give the researcher ease in the process of gathering data which will be used as the foundation and backbone of the study. Subsequently, to be able to provide a more realistic approach in this study, the researcher will also use primary data to be able to strengthen the claim of this study with regards to alcohol consumption and how its is affecting the high mortality rate in the United Kingdom. Primary data which will be used in this research will include first hand information such as interviews and surveys to be able to arrive at statistics which will provide a better insight on the topic at hand.
LITERATURE REVIEW
According to the World Health Organization (2002), in one of its published study, there is an estimated 2 billion people globally who used to consume alcohol in varying levels. And out of this population, WHO also reported that an estimated 76.3 million drinkers have been diagnosed with disorders due to alcohol. This figure is quite alarming and it continues to increase. With this, different countries have implemented their own measures to be able to regulate the drinking of alcohol so that they can potentially lower the cases of mortality associated with the effects of alcohol consumption. Taking into account the health perspective of the world, the global burden of alcohol consumption is already considerable since it has contributed in the increase in the rates of morbidity and mortality. Drinking of alcoholic beverages poses both social and health consequences such as intoxication, alcohol dependence, and the biochemical effects which were found in alcohol. Aside from that, it also gives various chronic diseases and it also contributes to traumatic incidents that could either kill or disable an individual at a young age. Researches also show that these problems are not only highly dependent on the volume of alcohol consumed but also associated on the individual's drinking pattern. In the same research, it stated that there are more than 60 types of both diseases and injuries which can be associated with alcohol consumption including cancer, homicide, seizures, and vehicular accidents.
According to Rehm and Eschman, in Europe alone, it is estimated that there has been almost 55,000 deaths which were caused by the consumption of alcohol among ages 15-29. It can be noted that there is indeed a growing problem with mortality rate and alcohol specially taking into account that the victims include those of the younger generation. In the world, it is estimated that there are 1.8 million deaths which were caused by alcohol.
According to the Institute for Alcohol Studies, if statistics will be based on the total amount of alcohol which has been drunk, then the United Kingdom is a relatively moderate consumer as against the consumers from other countries in Western Europe. The heaviest drinking population normally belongs to the countries which are the producers of wine such as France which is a country known for being one with the highest alcohol consumption and also the highest level of alcoholism. Moreover, in the past years based on statistical records, there is a significant drop in alcohol consumption among other countries in the Western Europe, whereas in the United Kingdom it continued to rise making it presently one of the heaviest alcohol-consuming countries in the world. While there have been some changes which can be noted based on the statistics, to this time, the drinking culture of the people from the United Kingdom still reflects binge drinking pattern. Because of this drinking pattern, the country has been faced with different problems such as relatively high level of violence and other social problems which are often a result of an individual's association with intoxication from too much intake of alcohol. And one of the most alarming with this is the fact that this problems faced often lead into heightened rates of mortality in the country. This problem is very evident in their society especially among teens and young adults. The problem with binge drinking, drinking with 5 or ore than standard drinks in one drinking occasion, has been particularly blamed for this problem especially considering the fact that the drinking population of the United Kingdom is one in the world with the highest number of binge drinkers. The same report also shows that drinking occasion in the United Kingdom is often done at homes and not on outside places often associated with meals.
Deaths arising from the problem of alcohol abuse have also been a topic of the study. The research showed that one of the leading health problems evident in the United Kingdom because of alcohol abuse would be liver diseases and other chronic health problems which are associated with excessive consumption of alcohol. Aside from alcohol abuse, the report noted that the most common causes of alcohol related mortality would include alcohol dependence, alcohol psychosis, alcohol poisoning, and alcoholic gastritis, among others. These were often pinpointed to be the main reasons behind the perpetually increasing mortality rate in the United Kingdom. In a different report published by the Institute for Alcohol Studies, it noted that the economic availability or simply the affordability of its price in the market is one of the main reasons why alcohol abuse can be deemed as rampant in the country. The price of alcoholic beverages in relation to an individual's disposable personal income shows a major influence in the consumption. If the alcoholic drink is priced cheaper in relation to the individual's disposable personal income, then it is obvious that there would be more amount pof alcohol to be consumed. During the year 2003, the institute reported that alcohol in the market is 54 % more affordable in the market compared to its price during 1980. Between the years 1980 to 2003, the price of alcohol generally increased and surged up to 24 % higher. However, during the same period, the percentage of the disposable personal income of the people from the United Kingdom has already reached 91 %. This factor makes alcohol still more affordable currently despite the fact that it has already registered price increases in the past year.
During one survey which was conducted independently and on a purpose different from this study, among 3,075 second year university students it was found out that only 11% of them were non-drinkers. Hazardous or excessive drinking has been reported for almost 30 percent of the respondents. This population of drinkers will at least give an idea on how many students can be candidates for the abuse of alcohol. If one drinks on a regular basis with alcohol volume which is above the standard, this only means that the individual is showing signs to be potentially dependent on it and therefore end up on alcohol abuse. Such incidents are actually threatening because it only means one thing: the higher the population of alcohol drinkers become, the higher will be the possibility that they will abuse alcohol and there will be higher chances for mortality which is brought about by alcohol abuse. Moreover, aside from the chronic diseases which are associated for alcohol abuse, crime is also taken into the picture. When an individual becomes too addicted to alcohol and intoxication takes in, it is very normal for that person to do things which we would not normally do when that particular person is in the state of sanity. Often, they would start fights within groups or they will loose their temper too fast and they would react negatively as they start to become violent and create a scene. And when that person becomes violent, the individual can do various things like killing, at the most extreme scenario. Other crimes which are often committed because of alcohol abuser would include criminal damage, breach of peace, assault, mugging, rape, and other forms of harassment which, inevitably, can cause hurt to any party involved. One's loss of sanity when intoxicated with alcohol is often one of the causes of mortality not only in the United Kingdom but on other parts of the globe as well.
In the United Kingdom, the problem with binge drinking especially between the younger generations is also seen as a starting point of alcohol abuse. When the teens are drinking inside pubs, they tend to come into groups, sometimes even larger groups because they have already known random people whom they met just during those times. This phenomenon of drinking in groups gives them the chance to be binge drinkers since the drinks or the shots often go in rounds among the network of friends. At these times, more often than not, they lose their control and let their inhibitions all just go out. Such occurrence is very alarming because it can lead to committing of various crimes and can unfortunately even cause another increase in their mortality rate.
In a study conducted by Rehn to be able to help potentially lower the level of alcohol abuse by the year 2015, she noted that the World Health Organization released a figure stating that 10-11% of annual deaths in the world's developing countries can be attributed to alcohol abuse. Moreover, in the United Kingdom alone it is shown that 25% of people who are arrested are drunk, 50 % of violent crimes are because of alcohol, 65 5 of suicide attempts are done under the influence of alcohol, and 75 5 of assaults which happen are influenced by alcohol. These alarming figures go to show that alcohol abuse is indeed a major contributing factor in the increase of mortality rate. In the United Kingdom, the increased rate of mortality has been associated excessive drinking and certain drinking patters which all constitute generally to alcohol abuse. Data from other countries as well also showed that different kinds of accidents and injuries add significantly to the alcohol relate morbidity and mortality affecting mostly the younger population which also happened to be a growing part of the heavy drinking population. When drinking this young, one of the factors affecting morality is the shortened life period because of the evident effects of alcohol abuse. Alcohol related mortality in the United Kingdom is often caused by liver cirrhosis, alcoholic psychosis, traffic accidents, pancreatiatitis, external injury, and poisoning. All of these factors contribute to the country's increasing mortality rate all because of alcohol abuse. Still according to the same research, among all the countries in the European Union, countries like Austria, France, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and Netherlands were the only ones to be showing a significant decrease in alcohol abuse and consumption and are also consistent with their decreasing rate of mortality. Moreover, Denmark and Finland have stable rates of alcohol abuse and mortality. Moreover, in the United Kingdom, alcohol abuse and consumption also remains stable enabling also to even out the mortality rate due to external causes and traffic accidents. However, it is quite alarming that cases of liver cirrhosis are increasing and contributing to their mortality rate as well. Other countries in the Western Europe are showing an increase in the consumption of alcohol but luckily their mortality rates either decrease or remain at a stable level.
In that study made by Rehn, she concluded with the suggestion that authorities should be implementing a public health policy related on alcohol and have these policies integrated to health planning. By doing such, the author believes that there will be lower tendency for alcohol abuse, thereby also lowering the rate of mortality in the United Kingdom. The present day is no longer like the past where alcohol policies are only optional requirement. It is already about time that the government intensifies of laws regarding alcohol consumption because its abuse has already reached an alarming level. The author suggested the possibility of conducting public dialogue and conducting an intensive dissemination of information regarding the very nature and the consequences of alcohol abuse. More researches and academic studies has also been suggested in order to provide not only the academic community but the general public as well with the information and the insights which they need to be aware of to rid themselves from abusing alcohol. Measures to increase the general price and taxes imposed on alcoholic products have been also suggested. The author believes that this will lower the spending capacity of an individual and will result hopefully into lesser consumption of alcohol.
In a report which was released by the United Kingdom's Office for National Statistic, the agency has supported the claim that more and more deaths in the country is associated with the abuse of alcohol. The report showed that the trend has been continuously increasing dating back to the 1990's all the way to last year. More than that, the study also noted that more alcohol abuse related deaths happen to male as compared to female. While deaths among male increase, alcohol related deaths among women just remained stable. Overtime, the rates of death among males has dramatically doubled.
RESULTS
The main purpose of this research is to hopefully capture relevant information and insights regarding the effect of alcohol abuse on the high mortality rates in the United Kingdom. To be able to achieve such result, the researcher will discuss the backgrounds of alcohol consumption and when such incidence can already be considered as a form of abuse. Once it is already abuse, the paper will also examine how this is related into the countries increasing mortality rate. To be able to answer the question in this research, various data will be extrapolated to yield results and will be interpreted in such a way that it will provide answers to the study.
DISCUSSION
It is indeed undeniable that the threat of alcohol abuse and consumption has been one of the most pressing threats wherever in the world. Various efforts through policies implemented and other programs utilized have already been done in order to combat the growing phenomenon. Education among individuals has already been intensive in order to warn them on how alcohol abuse can trigger mortality. However, such moves prove not to be enough as we seem to be facing the same problem up to this time.
With all of this, the researcher chose this topic to be studied because of the belief that this is one of the problems that needs immediate attention and workable solution to avoid its threats from spreading on a large scale. Once this research is completed, it will create an impact on the public because it will provide them with additional information and enlightenment on the dangers which are posed by alcohol abuse.
Moreover, the researcher also acknowledges that there will be problems which will be encountered in the process of completing this research. One of the problems will be the difficulty of getting primary data since some might refuse to give their insights because they would not want themselves to be tagged as individuals who abuse alcohol. To be able to combat this, the researcher will be more careful with approaching people who will provide first hand information. Aside from that, there can be also problems with getting the secondary data for this research. Since secondary data are widely available, the researcher will take utmost care in choosing which information are valuable on the research making sure that the data has been and will be sue for the same purpose and problem.
CONCLUSION
Alcohol should never be considered an ordinary commodity, because in actuality it really is not. There are diverse and widespread harmful consequences which are brought about by alcohol consumption despite the fact that drinking connotes sociability and pleasure in the minds of the many. Globally, the problems which were posted by alcohol consumption has already reached an alarming level on different nations as it has always been associated in the mortality of its people.
In the United Kingdom, people are alarmed as well as there is a continuous increase in the number of deaths which were caused by alcohol use. In order to combat such problem, there is a growing need for better alcohol policies and more advocacy programs in order to make everyone aware regarding the harmful effects of alcohol on the individual and on the society as well. There is a need for a common public health goal to minimize harm which is caused by drinking. In order to substantially reduce the burden of alcohol there is a need to consider both volume of alcohol consumption and the pattern of drinking. An individual could either decrease the average volume of alcohol consumed every time the person drinks or there could also be a shift in the alcohol consumption by drinking the ones which are less harmful and those with lower alcohol content.
