09/01/2012 Inside Out North East and Cumbria

In the next half an hour, we toast 2012 with a long hard look at booze.

The region's lifesavers forced to look after the wrong sort of sick.

You could be set we put me in a van with their confidence bags and a

mop and bucket. Are unborn babies facing a lifetime

of damage, thanks to the North's binge drinking culture?

A person who drinks and damages their child? Yeah, it is assault to

me. It is actual bodily harm to actually damage another person

through alcohol. I think the person should be charged with that.

And we lay down the challenge - can radio man Mike Parr stay off the

booze, while the rest of us celebrate? That is cheating! Just a

liqueur with a little cherry in each one.

Stories from the heart of the North We like a drink here in the North

East. The proof? Well, more of us end up in hospital thanks to drink

than in any other part of the country.

It is costing the NHS a fortune - and who would want to be on duty in

I fell over, Mr my footing and fell over and hit my face. You were

scared? What were you scared of? I am the senior doctor on shift

tonight. Most of the admissions will have had some degree of

alcohol or drugs. Unfortunately, over the years, I have seen a fair

few deaths just through alcohol alone. We will just have to see

what comes through the door. North East as the high as rate of

under 18 is admitted to hospital in England. That is more than double

It is a 12 or Friday night shift. I think we will be an for a busy

night. Are you going to open your eyes?

Can you see me? His friends say he was any nightclub. The norm. A

roll-call it is incredibly dangerous than alcohol as at the

centre of their leaves. I get a bit annoyed, because I can

do a full weekend. I will not use the single paramedic skills during

that time. You could be cichlid put me in the van with blankets,

incontinence bags and a mop and bucket and that is all I would need

for a weekend shift. That is because most people are incapable

of knowing when to stop. Open your eyes for me. You know

where you are? You are in hospital. What have you had to drink?

Two firebombs. Firebombs? You need the toilet?

Right, I'll help you with the toilet.

30-year-old gentleman, having been assaulted, is coming in with large

head injury. He is conscious, but agitated at the moment.

You are in the hospital. Why are you moving your leg like that?

Listen to us. You are in the hospital. You need to hold stills,

so we can get you sorted out. What's going on?

You have fallen over and hit the back of your head.

You need to calm down. I have to put this needle in your

arm. This 30-year-old gentleman has been brought in from town, having

been punched in the face, fallen back, hit his head.

He was putting the staff at risk. We could not manage him to give him

oxygen and look after him from a head injury point of view. We have

been forced to give him an anaesthetic, to allow us to scan

his head and neck to make sure he has done no damage and is not

bleeding inside his head. It does tie up a lot of people for

quite a amount of time and it is very difficult to tell whether it

is the head injury or the drink that has caused it. A North East

has the highest number of will call related deaths in England.

The frustrating thing is, you can be working in a busy department. It

can be very frustrating when you have other patients. If the call

comes in for someone who needs a stroke. The Arata lot more risk. We

get diverted to them. It is annoying that you would think they

would be intelligent enough to not get themselves so drunk that they

are actually delaying treatment for someone else.

They need an ambulance and need it very very quickly, because it is a

time- critical illness. Listen, you cannot shout and swear

like that in here. There is families and children here. The

story is that he has been out to any club and gone to the police

station because he ran out of money. Stop swearing.

Don't grab that fella. What are you grabbing me for? What

is the matter? You have a rest on their for now. Treating alcohol-

related damage in Middlesbrough cost the NHS �12.3 million a year.

Including the cost of policing, it works out at �650 per man woman and

child in the region. We will have a look and see what is underneath.

Do you remember it at all? I don't have a clue when I bashed

my head. Don't remember nothing. Let us have a look at it.

Ow, my head hurts. It is not going to sting, is it?

It does sting a little bit. Owww!!

Keep nice and still. Keep still.

Keep still, keep still. Around 20 people need treatment in

Sunderland Royal every year for human bites. That is double the

number seen with animal bites. He had a bottle in his hand. Then

there was about six people absolutely pummelled me to the

ground. So you have been assaulted?

Yeah. By more than one person?

Yeah. That gentleman had to be scanned a knob and unfortunately it

has shown he has a serious head injury. We will have to transfer

into intensive care and keep an eye on hand. It is frustrating when you

see a lot of people who just come back again and again. This evening,

75 for 80 % of the cases in here tonight have been a alcohol-related.

The man with the serious head injury spent four nights in

hospital and, after more tests, he was able to return home.

There were some pretty startling figures about the true price of

alcohol in there. Your comments are always welcome. Just head to my

blog to have your say. It is bad enough if drinking

affects your own health, but it is estimated that 6,000 babies are

born in the UK every year with brain damage because their mothers

did not give up during pregnancy. With our region's notorious binge

drinking culture, expectant mum Kirsten O'Brien has been

He will come down in the morning and be bouncing about. He has to be

supervised 24 or so day. It is a case of preparing for battle.

would shout, scream, be pretty destructive.

Three families trying to cope with children who have foetal alcohol

syndrome, or FAS. Figures suggest one in 100 babies

born in this country have a form of FAS, but most people have never

heard of it. And it is completely preventable, as long as I was

pregnant ladies lay off this. So what is FAS?

It is brain damage in the womb caused by alcohol. It is the most

common preventable disability in the world.

Some of these children look a certain way, like four-year-old Ian.

His mother was an alcoholic. He is being brought up by his

grandparents. You can see he has got a smaller head than other

children. And he has been non- existent fulcrum. He will have the

number of problems growing up education wise. He will not

understand mathematics, up money or the concept of time.

People judge Ian's behaviour harshly all the time. Some of the

people we have bumped into think he should get a clip around the ear

and do not realise he has been damaged.

Many children with FAS are in care. Sarah adopted her daughter three

years ago. She knew she may have problems, but nothing prepared her.

I had heard of it, but did not know really what it entailed. So we

asked to see medical advisor with the adoption agency. When we went

to see the doctor and showed us a picture, he told us to read a

little paragraph and said she will be fine. But we knew she would not

be fine, because we had already read that FAS is structural brain

damage. I was surprised even visiting the

GP they had did not seem to have an awful lot of knowledge. When I have

had to visit hospital, I have had to explain what it is.

Sarah had no idea her two adopted children had FAS. She diagnosed it

herself. I was watching a programme and they

were looking at facial features and said that this person had FAS. I

went straight on the computer had a look at what the symptoms were and

it was just. "Oh my God, that is it."

Sarah is starting a support group for families on Teesside. The first

meeting is a few days' away. It is that multiple voice thing. It

is like one man standing in the dark - nobody listens, nobody hears

you. It is like banging your head against a brick wall.

So why does alcohol damage the If you drink a glass of wine, it

goes straight into the baby, unprocessed. If you compare a child

with FAS, the brain compared with a child that does not have it, the

brain looks smoother, without the ragged edges you get on a normal

brain. Most people think you have to be an are garlic for it to be a

problem but one binge drink and the wrong point of your pregnancy and

you could damage retard Rafa. -- an alcoholic. Quite a few people would

be surprised to know that two glasses of wine are enough to

damage your baby. Is that all? I think women here will find that

quite a shock, considering we have the largest number of female binge

drinkers in this region. 17 % of the women here admit to binge

drinking. The average for England is 13 %. We have quite a drinking

culture in the North East and it is a timebomb waiting to explode.

nearing the end of my pregnancy now and just through personal

preference, I have decided not to drink, not through any medical

advice on was given. Having done a little research now, I'm quite

terrified that had I done any major drinking, I could potentially have

given my unborn child brain damage. We are going to stand aside on

today... Do some legwork. I have got a pile of pregnancy books under

the bed. I know not to eat raw eggs and blue cheese but I have no idea

of the damage alcohol could read in the womb. Am I alone? I never had

more than one or two spritzers. But a friend opened a new business and

had a couple that night, and had my birthday so I had a couple that

night, but generally, I found it was all right. No one ever

questioned as on it. I drank on my husband's birthday, not excessively,

but about four glasses of wine and I did not know I was pregnant.

the midwives at any stage say, are you drinking? No. Have you heard of

foetal alcohol syndrome? I presumed that was for a heavy drinker,

having bottles and bottles. How did you find out about it? Just on the

telly or something. Certainly not through any body for medical all

midwives. My final question, which baby am are going to get a go on?

Come on! But lots of women to drink and

their babies are fine. It is a lottery. The. East we need to know

the risks. Even the Government's advice is confusing. Although it

says women or those -- women brewer pregnant or trying to conceive

should avoid alcohol, it does say that if they do drink, one ought to

units once or twice a week is OK, and they should not get drunk.

think the problem is that one or two women -- many women think one

or two units is one or two drinks. The Government is saying even one

glass of wine is too much but not many people read it like that. The

anyway to know you were not doing your baby any harm is to not drink

at all. Ian's grand that wants to change the law. He thinks women who

drink when pregnant should be held criminally responsible. Yes, it is

actual bodily harm. The person should be charged. Do you think

that women who knowingly drink through their pregnancy should

maybe be prosecuted? I think you would have to be very careful how

you did it because, for me, women might go more underground and not

make their habits known and what we want is Renault blamed culture Wedd

these women come forward and asked for help and support. -- we want a

no blame culture back for. Mackenzie runs a clinic for women

who drink during pregnancy. I would say that if someone really cannot

bear the thought of no alcohol for nine months, they have an alcohol

problem, and we need to see them. The Department of Health says there

is already plenty of information out there and that women should be

told about the implications of drinking during pregnancy at their

first midwife appointment. They are also working with the alcohol

industry to get pregnancy warnings on most bottles of booze by 2013.

The first meeting of the Teesside support groupies crowded. Because

many children with FAS are in care, we cannot film the meeting, but

already it feels invaluable. have having to go down this road or

run your own. It is really daunting. But having support groups like this,

it is like coming home. This has been a massive learning curve for

me and am really pleased I decided not to drink through my pregnancy

because what has surprised me the most is how little we pregnant

women know about the damage that can be done to our babies from

drinking alcohol, so for me, that is the thing that really needs to

change. And Kirsten, I am delighted to say,

had a healthy baby boy. If your new year's resolution was

to abstain from alcohol, I wonder how you have been doing. But how

about giving up booze before Christmas? A tall order? That was

the challenge that we set BBC Tees radio presenter Mike Parr.

If welcome to might's bar. This is my average consumption in a week.

On Monday, half a bottle of red wine, Tuesday, another half, when

state another half, Thursday another half. Friday, up two PTS of

real ale, and another half bottle of wine. Saturday it gets quite

heavy, and Sunday I am back to another half bottle of red wine. I

am giving all this up for the month of December. What the hell am I

doing? Before this nightmare begins, I am

joining some kindred spirits for one last drink and a peep into the

future. Auriole is a medical photographer. She has predicted, on

current consumption, what I will look like in ten years' time, and

reddened cheeks, and some deeper jowls and wrinkles. I have gone

already under my eyes, with a red nose. There is a real sense of

redness around the nose and the cheek area. Broken blood vessels

where the blood vessels dilate when the dream too much. -- When you

I am going to make this the last one. Good luck. This is the last

one! You will be drinking on the train on the way home!

Good morning. We are talking about booze Britain this morning. I am

giving up booze for a month. I am having a dry December. More and

more people in their thirties are now in hospital with liver problems.

Could you give up booze for a month?

At the start of the month, my local GP gives me the once-over. 96. I

thought I was more like 92. Cruel but fair. Over the next month, I am

hoping to lose weight and may be reduce my blood pressure. That is

pretty good. It is well in the normal range. So what is it about

your drinking that causes you concern? I am concerned I have

fallen into this habit of using booze to relax at the end of the

day. Looking through all this, it is not particularly excessive. By

noughties and standards, it is quite moderate, but it still comes

to 37 units. It should be 20. is nearly double. You are cutting

it down to absolute oozy red and socially that will be quite tough.

You will have to be strict with yourself. I consider myself to be a

moderate drinker but it turns out I am on double the recommended amount.

Quite a shock. It is amazing what you develop a taste for when you

give up drink. They are liqueurs. That is

cheating! No, it is not. Look, there is no... All right, it is

just a liqueur and a little cherry in each one.

I have been off the booze for two weeks now. I am feeling full of vim

and vigour so I thought I would make the most of things and go for

a run. Well, so far so good. I have not given in to temptation and I'm

getting fit and healthy. I think I am doing all right but what is the

verdict from home? Yes, I think you are a bit different. Sometimes you

are a bit morose because we cannot go out and have a drink together,

or you do not want to drink alone. You look really healthy and sleep

better and are fitter. So, I have been drinking more than is good for

me, and so are many young people in the North East. I have come to the

Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle when many are treated.

Once you start drinking too much, do you get fat infiltration in the

liver. This Levet is nearly double the size it should be and it is

rather yellow in colour because there is a lot of fat infiltration.

That rapidly progress is to this next stage and it causes all this

scar tissue and the knobbly appearance on the surface. And are

you really seen people in their twenties with liver disease?

youngest patient I have had that has died of liver disease,

alcoholics are races, was only 19. I have given up the booze for

December but I will go back to it in the New Year. Do you have any

advice? You should have two or three alcohol-free days and you

should also try to get down from the 37 units more towards the 21

units which would be completely safe. This is what have been

dreading. Without a drink, the BBC Tees Christmas party. I would not

do it. December, of all months. No way! Could you do it? No. That was

the most difficult bit. Middlesbrough town centre on a

Friday night, going for a few drinks with my mates and after a

couple of hours they have all had a bit to drink and they are making no

sense! So I think it is time to go home.

In it is 7:30am on Christmas Day. The rest of the family are still

asleep upstairs. I have got a confession to make. I was out at an

Italian restaurant in Darlington last night with the family and had

a glass and a half of red wine. Happy Christmas.

On Christmas Day I was back on the straight and narrow, for most of

the day. It is Boxing Day. I am really

annoyed. I went through Christmas Day drinking water and then late

last night I gave in to a little nip of port. I am really

disappointed. Finally, it is New Year's Eve and

my journey of capstans is almost over. -- abstinence. To Anna's 26

minutes to go. How many glasses of champagne have you got there?

Yes, you're drinking for two. Happy New Year. It is 12 o'clock. Cheers.

Cheers. Oh, it has been a month! How good is this going to be! No,

net! But a few days later, there was

another unexpected twist in this tale. My weight was roughly the

same and my blood pressure was down a bit but there was something else.

I discovered Abbas to stringing out of habit more than anything else. -

- I was drinking out of habit. The anticipation of the drink on New

Year's Eve meant it tasted great but I did not want to drink much

more than a pint of lager. I have not wanted to drink much more since.

You found out that a lot of your drinking his social and habit

rather than necessary because you really want a drink and like its

effects. If you stay of the beer, your weight will go down.

Everything else will start to fall into place, I think.

Congratulations. I think I can now really cut down

on my intake, listening to the advice I have had over the past

month. There will be alcohol-free days and I will subsequently cut

down on the number of units. That is it for tonight. If this

show has brought up issues for you surrounding alcohol, there is a