(Press-News.org) Geneva, 13th March 2013 --- According to WHO, liver cirrhosis accounts for 1.8% (i.e. 170,000) of all deaths in Europe. In recent years liver cirrhosis has become a serious health threat in some Western European countries such as Ireland and the United Kingdom, where over the last 10 years the associated mortality has increased .
The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) urges the UK government to press ahead with its proposed implementation of the minimum unit pricing of alcohol. EASL's most recent publication The burden of liver disease in Europe: a review of available epidemiological data highlights the fact that alcohol consumption is one the leading causes of cirrhosis in Europe. In the UK in particular, all studies agree on the worrying increase in the incidence of liver cirrhosis. Alcohol is the main cause of liver disease, including liver cirrhosis, and there is a clear correlation between an increase in alcohol-related cirrhosis and increases in alcohol consumption.
Prof. Mark Thursz, EASL Secretary-General, emphasised that "although the incidence and prevalence of liver disease in Europe is alarming, what is encouraging to see is that each of the major causes of liver disease is potentially amenable to prevention and treatment. This means we all have an opportunity to make a difference, through implementing the right policy changes. The Minimum Unit Pricing of alcohol is an example of the urgent measures needed and we continue to draw attention to the importance of its implementation. We urgently call on the UK government to stand firm to pressure of the alcohol industry lobbying and to consider above all the health of British citizens" Prof. Thursz also noted that "a 45p per unit minimum price would only raise the cost to a 21 unit/week drinker by £2. This is most definitely not going to affect living standards".
Also urging the UK Government to take a proactive stand before it is too late, Prof. Markus Peck, EASL Vice-Secretary, noted "there are clear initiatives which need to be implemented to curb the growing problem of alcohol consumption. These include alcohol pricing, availability and marketing. Alcohol not only affects the liver but is a risk factor in over 60 diseases and conditions. It is in the interest of all European citizens for alcohol, a major risk factor for disease, to be better regulated, as is already the case with tobacco, and in this governments are the only ones with the power to take the necessary steps to do so".
###
Contact details:
Margaret Walker, EASL Director of EU Public Affairs, margaret.walker@easloffice.eu
Mobile number: + 41 79 946 15 49
Notes to Editor:
The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)
EASL is the leading liver association in Europe. EASL attracts the foremost hepatology experts as members and has an impressive track record in promoting research in liver disease, supporting wider education, and promoting changes in European liver policy.
EASL believes the EU has a key role to play in raising awareness of liver disease in Europe, increasing additional funding for research, setting standards and guidelines for the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of liver disease across the EU and encouraging member states to make liver disease a public health and research priority.
For more information please visit http://www.easl.eu
About Liver Disease
Liver disease, estimated to affect 6% of the EU population (approx. 29 million people), is reported to be the EU's 5th biggest killer, accounting for at least one in six deaths. In 2004, the mortality rate for chronic liver diseases was estimated at 14.3 per 100,000 in the EU-25. This means that more than 70,000 Europeans are dying from chronic liver disease every year. Even more worrying is the fact that the EU statistics do not cover all diseases of the liver in one category, e.g. alcohol abuse related deaths and liver cancer are treated separately. Therefore, the actual rate of deaths from liver disease is certainly much higher than the statistics suggest.
About the report:
Report Title: The burden of liver disease in Europe: a review of available epidemiological data
Authors: Martin Blachier, Henri Leleu, Markus Peck-Radosavljevic, Dominique-Charles Valla and Françoise Roudot-Thoraval
Release date: 20th February 2013
ISBN No.: 978-2-8399-1176-4
A limited number of hard copies are available from EASL. The report can also be found online at http://www.easl.eu/_eu-policy/eu-literature-review
EASL calls on UK to tackle alcohol consumption problem through implementation of minimum pricing
2013-03-14
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Study: Probiotics reduce stress-induced intestinal flare-ups
2013-03-14
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – For those with irritable bowel syndrome who wonder if stress aggravates their intestinal disorder, a new University of Michigan Health System study shows it's not all in their head.
Researchers revealed that while stress does not cause IBS, it does alter brain-gut interactions and induces the intestinal inflammation that often leads to severe or chronic belly pain, loss of appetite and diarrhea.
Stress has a way of suppressing an important component called an inflammasome which is needed to maintain normal gut microbiota, but probiotics reversed ...
Oh mother, where art thou?
2013-03-14
Biologists since Aristotle have puzzled over the reasons for mass strandings of whales and dolphins, in which groups of up to several hundred individuals drive themselves up onto a beach, apparently intentionally. Recent genetic research has shed some light on whether family relationships play a role in these enigmatic and often fatal beachings of otherwise healthy whales.
One hypothesis regarding the reason for strandings is that "care-giving behavior," mediated largely by family relationships, plays a critical role. In this scenario, the stranding of one or a few whales, ...
Transplanted brain cells in monkeys light up personalized therapy
2013-03-14
MADISON — For the first time, scientists have transplanted neural cells derived from a monkey's skin into its brain and watched the cells develop into several types of mature brain cells, according to the authors of a new study in Cell Reports. After six months, the cells looked entirely normal, and were only detectable because they initially were tagged with a fluorescent protein.
Because the cells were derived from adult cells in each monkey's skin, the experiment is a proof-of-principle for the concept of personalized medicine, where treatments are designed for each ...
Study questions the role of kinship in mass strandings of pilot whales
2013-03-14
NEWPORT, Ore. – Pilot whales that have died in mass strandings in New Zealand and Australia included many unrelated individuals at each event, a new study concludes, challenging a popular assumption that whales follow each other onto the beach and to almost certain death because of familial ties.
Using genetic samples from individuals in large strandings, scientists have determined that both related and unrelated individuals were scattered along the beaches – and that the bodies of mothers and young calves were often separated by large distances.
Results of the study ...
Knowing how brown fat cells develop may help fight obesity
2013-03-14
PHILADELPHIA - Brown fat is a hot topic, pardon the pun. Brown fats cells, as opposed to white fat cells, make heat for the body, and are thought to have evolved to help mammals cope with the cold. But, their role in generating warmth might also be applied to coping with obesity and diabetes.
The lab of Patrick Seale, PhD, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, studies what proteins guide the development, differentiation, and function of fat cells. Seale and postdoctoral fellow Sona Rajakumari, PhD, along with Jun Wu from the Dana-Farber Cancer ...
Social bees mark dangerous flowers with chemical signals
2013-03-14
Scientists already knew that some social bee species warn their conspecifics when detecting the presence of a predator near their hive, which in turn causes an attack response to the possible predator. Researchers at the University of Tours (France) in collaboration with the Experimental Station of Arid Zones of Almeria (Spain) have now demonstrated that they also use chemical signals to mark those flowers where they have previously been attacked.
Researchers at the University of Tours (France) and the Experimental Station of Arid Zones of Almeria (EEZA-CSIC) conducted ...
23andMe identifies multiple genetic factors impacting development of nearsightedness
2013-03-14
Mountain View, Calif. – March 14, 2013 – In the largest ever genome-wide association study on myopia, 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, identified 20 new genetic associations for myopia, or nearsightedness. The company also replicated two known associations in the study, which was specific to individuals of European ancestry. The study included an analysis of genetic data and survey responses from more than 50,000 23andMe customers and demonstrates that the genetic basis of myopia is complex and affected by multiple genes.
Myopia is the most common eye ...
New early warning system for the brain development of babies published in video journal
2013-03-14
A new research technique, pioneered by Dr. Maria Angela Franceschini, will be published in JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments) on March 14th. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have developed a non-invasive optical measurement system to monitor neonatal brain activity via cerebral metabolism and blood flow.
Of the nearly four million children born in the United States each year, 12% are born preterm, 8% are born with low birth weight, and 1-2% of infants are at risk for death associated with respiratory distress. The result ...
CITES makes historic decision to protect sharks and rays
2013-03-14
Bangkok, 14 March 2013. CITES plenary today accepted Committee recommendations to list five species of highly traded sharks under the CITES Appendices, along with those for the listing of both manta rays and one species of sawfish. Japan, backed by Gambia and India, unsuccessfully challenged the Committee decision to list the oceanic whitetip shark, while Grenada and China failed in an attempt to reopen debate on listing three hammerhead species. Colombia, Senegal, Mexico and others took the floor to defend Committee decisions to list sharks.
"We are thrilled with this ...
Statement by WCS president and CEO on historic CITES ruling
2013-03-14
BANGKOK -- March 14, 2013 -- The following statement was issued today by WCS President and CEO Cristian Samper:
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today celebrates the decision by an historic, broad group of nations from around the world to list five new sharks, freshwater sawfish, and two manta ray species for protection by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This vote is a first, critical step in working to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of commercially valuable shark and ray ...