Leading doctor warns women their nightly tipple is the new face of addiction, writes Niamh Horan
Middle- aged Irish women, enslaved to nightly bottles of wine, are being treated for alcoholism with surgical implants that have traditionally been administered to heroin users, according to one of Ireland's leading experts on alcohol and drug addiction.
The implant, containing a drug called Naltrexone, lasts for three months and is administered during a 15-minute procedure under a local anaesthetic at a cost of €1,150.
Dr Hugh Gallagher, a HSE GP co-ordinator in addiction service and head of the One Step Clinic, has said that the implants are being used by women in their 30s, 40s and 50s, who are the new major drug-dependency problem in Ireland.
This group of women is bucking the national trend, under which alcohol consumption has fallen by 25pc from its peak Celtic Tiger levels.
According to Dr Gallagher, the new cohort of overworked, tired and unhappy Irish women are increasingly turning to alcohol for consolation.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent this weekend, Dr Gallagher said: "Traditionally, we were dealing with males in their 50s or 60s. It has now changed to a problem which is crossing society and genders. Middle- and upper-class women are presenting too; it's very much across the board."
Dr Gallagher said women were "ambivalent" towards their wine consumption and alcohol-fuelled lunches.
Source: Niamh Horan, Irish Independent, 17/04/16
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