IF someone had told David Corfield what a devastating effect his good-time drinking would have on his health, he probably wouldn't have believed them.
Yes, he enjoyed a drink, often every day. But he never considered himself to have a drink problem. For a start he never drank shorts and no-one would ever have described him as drunk.
So how did he end up desperately needing a liver transplant because of alcohol-related cirrhosis?
"I still kick myself thinking, how the hell did I get there?" the 58-year-old says. "I think long and hard about it because I always thought I was pretty much in control of my life.
"I thought I was controlling my drinking because my head was coping with it. I never got into trouble, never fell out with anyone, never had any rows - but of course my liver wasn't coping with it. Fortunately there were people there to catch me."
Looking back David can see that he was drinking far more than the health guidelines recommend, but like so many people, when you're drinking at home, units and measures don't really come into it.
For 30 years he held a steady job with the police and would never drink before he went on duty. He could easily drink 12 pints on a night out but then be teetotal for two weeks if he was working night shifts.
In 2001 David broke his back in an accident and three months later retired from the police. Alcohol was already an everyday part of his life but the accident and other stressful circumstances in his life compounded this.
"There were circumstances where, when I look back on it, I used alcohol as a crutch," he admits. "In the last four or five years before my transplant I would enjoy a drink every night.
"I was on a regular day job at the time and it was easy to come in from work and go and get a can out of the fridge. What I was doing, unconsciously at the time, was starting to drink three or four pints, every lunch time and every night.
"In a way I had become dependent on alcohol. I'd always associated having a drink with having a good time but somewhere between having a drink and having a good time, alcohol took over. I felt myself needing a drink at lunch time and night time. I should've realised something was wrong then, but it creeps up on you. By the time I noticed yellow in the corner of my eye, it was too late."
At first David quickly dismissed the yellow spot in his eye because it had disappeared the next day. However, a few weeks later his skin turned yellow from head to foot and it was then he finally realised something was wrong.
"The doctor took one look at me and called an ambulance," he remembers. "I was admitted into the trauma unit and the first consultant who saw me said, `My God, the last time I saw a face like that was on George Best.' It started to hit home then. I've not had an alcoholic drink since and I don't intend to."
David was diagnosed with chronic cirrhosis of the liver and it soon became clear that a transplant was his only hope.
"Without a transplant I would've been dead in months. That's always been a very sobering thought but the way I've come out of it is incredible."
It's now five years since David's transplant. He hasn't had an alcoholic drink since and has found that he can still enjoy nights out and is an active member of a singing group from Salford Musical Theatre Company, along with his wife, Linda.
"I love singing and now I can have a really great time without needing to have alcohol," he smiles. "I say this to myself quite a lot as a reassurance that I don't need alcohol. If in the past you feel your life has been controlled by drinking it's a wonderful thing to say you don't need it.
"I still keep an eye on prices. Recently a guy in front of me at the supermarket bought 15 cans of Strong Bow for £9.99.
"Some people might think that'll last me two weeks and that's not a bad thing - but if that was me I would have found it so easy to drink the lot without realising.
"I'd open a bottle of wine while I was making tea and have a couple of glasses. I'd then have some more wine with my food and then three or four pints of cider at night time. I'd try not to do it every day, but sometimes I would be doing that every day.
"Now I'd say to anyone, ask yourself why do you drink? Do you need it and if you need it, why do you need it? If you enjoy a drink and can drink sensibly fine. But be cold and callous with yourself because like me you might not get any warning. If you do think you might have a problem, have a chat with someone about it and as I always say now, mind your liver as you go home."
A Doctor's View
LUCKILY David’s tale has a happy ending. But for many the outcome is not as hopeful.
In his surgery at Ashton-Under-Lyne, Dr Kailash Chand, like many GPs across the country, sees the damage that alcohol abuse can cause.
“One of my most upsetting memories is of a young patient in his 40s who suffered chronic organ failure due to chronic alcoholism,” he says. “I watched as he said his last goodbyes to his children. Two days later he was dead.”
And Dr Chand warns it’s not only your liver you have to worry about. “Excessive alcohol consumption puts people at a greatly increased risk of many life-threatening by avoidable conditions,” he explains. “In most of these the risk of disease increases as consumption levels increase. Alcohol has recently been identified as a contributory factor in many cancers, including those of the larynx, mouth and oesophagus.”
Dr Chand believes that the growing trend towards drinking in the home has seen more people at risk of drinking harmful amounts without realising it.
“When you’re drinking at home you can get a false sense of security,” he explains. “It’s easy to drink more than you think you are and for those amounts to be harmful.
“We are already in the midst of an alcohol abuse epidemic, the availability of cheap alcohol at supermarkets has made matters worse, both in terms of health and crime and disorder. Pubs and clubs have responded to fears of binge drinking by curtailing cheap promotions and happy hours. Pubs are getting the blame for binge drinking, when you should really be looking at supermarkets which are continuing to supply alcohol 24 hours a day.”
His concerns echo those of the government’s top medical advisor, Sir Liam Donaldson, who has recently drawn up plans for a minimum price for alcohol.
Under his proposals, no drinks could be sold for less than 50p per unit of alcohol, which would mean a cost of no less than £4.50 for most bottles of wine.
“Sir Liam Donaldson’s proposals on tackling alcohol misuse are very interesting,” adds Dr Chand. “There are good reasons for tackling excessive drinking. Alcohol-related costs to the society are huge. However, penalising everyone who enjoys a drink in order to deal with a troublesome minority is unnecessary. The Government already has levers at its disposal, from taxation, through licensing, to the minimum age for buying alcohol and laws on anti-social behaviour. Until these measures are used more effectively than they are, there is no point in introducing any more.
“Moderate alcohol consumption is not usually harmful to health. Drinking heavily, however, can result in significant health problems. These may occur after heavy alcohol consumption over a short period, such as, intoxification or poisoning, while others may develop more gradually, like cirrhosis of the liver.”
Sir Liam’s recommendations will not automatically become government policy, but his influence can be seen in the smoking ban in public places which he suggested long before it became law.
Still, if more of us were sensible, perhaps such draconian measures would be unnecessary. Just because alcohol is cheap doesn’t mean that you have to drink more of it.
“If you are drinking wine, try using a smaller glass,” Dr Chand suggests. “A small glass of wine (ABV 12%) is about 1.5 units whereas a large glass of stronger wine can contain three units or more.”
What are the sensible drinking limits?
WOMEN no more than 14 units per week
MEN no more than 21 units per week.
UNIT CALCULATOR One drink isn’t always one unit of alcohol - different drinks come in different sizes and strengths. The strength of a drink is labelled on packaging as the % abv (percentage of alcohol by volume). Check this and the size of your drink to see how many units you have got in your glass. Unit calculator abv % (strength) multiplied by ml (size) divided by 1,000
PINT OF CIDER abv 4.5% Size 568ml Units 2.6 Kcals 239
BOTTLE OF PREMIUM LAGER abv 5% Size 330ml Units 1.65 Kcals 132
CHAMPAGNE abv 12% Size 120ml Units 1.44 units Kcals 89
BOTTLE OF SPIRITS abv 40% Size 1litre Units 40 Kcals 2240
DOUBLE VODKA abv 40% Size 70ml Units 2.8 Kcals 144
LARGE GLASS WINE abv 14% Size 250ml Units 3.5 Kcals 196
