Alcohol poisoning kills someone in their twenties EVERY month - now NekNominations are set to trigger sharp rise in deaths
- NekNominate has gone round the world and been linked to three deaths
- Office for National Statistics sounds the alarm on 'worsening' problem
- Bradley Eames, 20, died after after downing almost two pints of gin
- Stephen Brookes and Isaac Richardson were the first victims of the game
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Dangerous NekNomination stunts will fuel an unprecedented jump in the number of deaths from alcohol poisoning, experts warned today.
The Office for National Statistics sounded the alarm that alcohol misuse ‘has become a serious and worsening public health problem’.
Latest figures show that in 2012 a total of 12 people in the twenties died from accidental alcohol poisoning, but that is expected to rise after the internet craze which sees people dare each other to drink dangerous levels of booze.
400 people killed by accidental alcohol poisoning in 2012
Already this year three deaths have been linked to NekNominations. Bradley Eames, 20, apparently became the third British victim of the deadly crazy after filming himself downing nearly two pints of gin.
The salesman, from Nottingham, was found dead in his home four days after filming the stunt. Police are understood to have watched the video as they investigate the tragedy.
It followed the deaths of Stephen Brookes, 29, and Isaac Richardson, 20, died after completing similar NekNomination challenges.
New figures reveal that in 2012 a total of 8,367 deaths were linked to alcohol.
Of these 396 were the result of accidental alcohol poisoning – the fourth highest cause of drink-related deaths.
Drink challenge: Bradley Eames, 20, is thought to have become the third British NekNominate victim. He died after downing two pints of gin. The footage was posted online
First victims: Stephen Brooks, 29, (left) who died after downing a pint of vodka and Isaac Richardson, 20, (right) who was the first person to die in Britain after taking part in a NekNominate challenge
The ONS said: ‘Excessive alcohol consumption in a short period of time can have short term fatal consequences.
‘In fact, accidental alcohol poisoning (intoxication) was the fourth highest (396 deaths) alcohol-related cause of death in 2012, with over a third among those in their 40s.’
However NekNomination videos going viral online is expected to lead to an increase in 2014.
Ross Samson, 26, a former professional rugby player said to have started the deadly NekNominate craze, has now said 'it has gone too far'.
He is thought to have inadvertently spread the game where players film themselves downing drinks and posting the videos online, daring others to outdo them.
The sportsman uploaded footage of himself 'necking' beer to Facebook and told his friends to do the same. He posted: 'I nominate all of you whose birthday it's not. Merry Christmas'.
Craze: Ross Samson is thought to have spread the NekNominate game by posting a video on Christmas Day of himself downing a beer
'NECK YOUR DRINK, NOMINATE ANOTHER': WHAT IS NEKNOMINATE?
The NekNominate craze is thought to have originated in Perth, Australia, but thanks to social media it has since gone global.
The hashtag 'neknominate' started trending in the UK in January 2013 and has since been growing in popularity around the world.
The concept of the game has been described by a user on Facebook as: 'Neck your drink. Nominate another. Don't break the chain, don't be a d**k. The social drinking game for social media! #neknominate. Drink Responsible'.
The stunt is filmed then posted on the internet.
One popular video shows a bare-chested man emptying a bottle of beer down the toilet before two friends lower him head-first into the porcelain bowl to lap it up.
Another extreme example featured a woman riding a horse into a supermarket and downing a can of Pepsi.
However, the trend has taken a dark trend in recent weeks as reports have begun to emerge of young men dying after drinking huge amounts of alcohol for a dare.
The ONS added: ‘There has been speculation that the influence of social media drinking games may drive these figures up in the future particularly among younger people.
‘In 2012, there were 14 deaths among those in their 20s due to accidental alcohol poisoning, although it is not known whether these deaths were as a result of such games and any deaths occurring recently will not be included in these figures.’
Unlike other forms of alcohol-related death, which are caused by sustained consumption levels over a long period, drinking games can pose an immediate risk to life.
‘The effects of alcohol are almost immediate because it is absorbed faster than it is processed and eliminated from the body,’ the ONS said.
‘People may become very drowsy when intoxicated, they may breathe in their vomit, contract pneumonia or even die. Heavy drinking is also linked with low blood pressure, low blood sugar levels and heart attacks.’
Overall the harmful effects of drinking have caused more than 5,000 deaths every year in England and Wales for the last decade.
The ONS warned that alcohol results in 2.5 million deaths worldwide each year, with over 5,000 deaths in England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.
‘Excessive alcohol consumption is a major cause of preventable premature death, accounting for 1.4 per cent of all deaths registered in England and Wales in 2012,’ the study went on.
The study found the north of England had the most deaths while there were fewest in the south. Men aged 60 to 64 were most likely to die.
Of the UK's four countries, only Scotland had male and female death rates in 2012 that were significantly lower than 2002. Meanwhile, overall death rates were highest among men aged 60 to 64.
Eric Appleby, chief executive of Alcohol Concern, said: ‘It's encouraging to see a decline in the number of alcohol-related deaths but overall thousands of people are still dying because of it.
‘We are facing historically high levels of health harms caused by alcohol misuse, with over a million alcohol-related hospital admissions each year; and we're one of the few European countries where liver disease is on the increase.
‘To tackle this, we're urging the Government to take tougher action including introducing minimum unit pricing.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2563077/Fears-NekNominate-drinking-craze-trigger-sharp-rise-deaths-30s-alcohol-poisoning.html#ixzz2tn8Ze7lH
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