Treating health issues related to alcohol abuse in northwest Birmingham costs the equivalent of £136 a year per resident, according to figures released earlier this month.
The Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust said it spends over £72m a year dealing with the alcohol-related health problems of the 530,000 people it looks after. The cost includes seeing around 300 patients each month.
“We work closely with local charities Swanswell and Change Grow and Live (CGL) to reduce admission to hospital due to alcohol abuse and provide support in outpatient settings. We are helping patients to reduce their intake or stop drinking alcohol completely,” said Arlene Copland, who leads alcohol nursing. ■
Legal threats of the kind which abruptly 
Underage youth are nearly twice as likely to recall seeing alcohol marketing on the internet than adults, according to a new pilot survey led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. … It also found that youth liked, shared or posted alcohol-related content online in greater proportions than adults, including celebrities using alcohol (11% versus 6%) and pictures of their friends or peers using alcohol (14% versus 10%).
This pairing seems to happen in the amygdala, two almond-shaped structures buried deep in our brains (pictured). They specialise in linking emotions to memories, so informing our impressions and decisions.