Aman_Akbota_Assignment One

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Oct 30, 2023

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Akbota Aman Akbota Aman Alcohol abuse within the South Korean population: An Overview of the Factors Influencing Men and the Social, Cultural, and Health consequences Involved. Introduction Alcohol abuse is a common and alarming problem across the world. Drinking too much alcohol has negative social and economic effects on both people and society as a whole, in addition to negative health effects. Although the amount of alcohol consumption is the highest in Latvia and Austria at approximately 12.9 and 12.2 liters per capita relatively, comparing to South Korean population, which drinks 8.7 liter per capita, the liquor dependency rates are extremely high 1 . Binge drinking is popular and culturally acceptable, and there are more drinking-related crashes in vehicles per capita compared to any other nations. 1 Furthermore, there are significant disparities in alcohol abuse among different genders in population, with greatest amount of alcohol consumption among males at 39.4% and females at 11.9% in South Korea and that is an increasing trend. 2 The purpose of this essay is to highlight the widespread issue of alcohol abuse among South Korean men, focusing on the negative impacts with supporting evidence it has on people's personal life, society as a whole, and public health. Public Health Problem Alcohol or ethanol is a poisonous, intoxicating drug that can lead to dependence. 3 It has a suppressant effect on the central nervous system. Ethanol is absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract, with the liver metabolizing around 95% of it and the remaining 5% being eliminated through urine. 4 Influence of ethanol is wide and complex, affecting at the molecular and cellular levels, causing oxidative stress, thereby affecting all organs and systems of the body causing various diseases. According to American Psychological Association, “ Alcohol abuse is a drinking pattern that results in significant and recurrent adverse consequences ” 5 . NHS considering alcohol misuse: “in both men and women as drinking more than 14 units per week, which is 10 ml per unit or 140 ml per week on a regular basis”. 6 Excessive alcohol consumption encompasses several patterns, such as binge drinking, heavy drinking, as well as any 1

Akbota Aman form of alcohol consumption among pregnant women or individuals below the legal drinking age of 21. 7 The high rates of alcohol consumption is a cause of the emergence of more than 200 diseases and the 3 million fatalities that occur worldwide each year. 3 Long-term excessive drinking can raise the risk of accidents and injuries create an increased risk of liver, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal diseases, alcohol use disorder and cancer. 7 The principal determinants driving alcohol misuse include social, cultural and individual components, such as socio-economic status, age, gender and level of education. 3 Magnitude of the Problem Epidemiological data shows an emergent issue in the rise of excessive alcohol consumption and increasing health-related risks. Therefore, necessitating immediate implementation of public health interventions. Surveillance data from the GBD 2019 Risk Factors Collaborators presented that alcohol consumption emerged as the primary risk factor contributing to the burden of disease among individuals aged 25 to 49, the second most significant risk factor among those aged 10 to 24, and the ninth most prominent risk factor across all age groups in 2019. 8,9 Additionally, the consumption of alcohol was responsible for 2.07 million male deaths and 374,000 female deaths on a global scale in that year. 8,9 Furthermore, “alcohol misuse was the leader among risk factor s for death and disabi lity among people ages 15 to 49” as stated in GBD Alcohol Collaborators 10 . According to World Health Organization, Global status report on alcohol and health 2018, among the global fatalities associated with alcohol consumption, injuries accounted for 28.7%, while gastrointestinal illnesses, specifically liver failure of and pancreatitis, contributed to 21.3% of deaths 11 . Cardiovascular diseases were responsible for 19.0% of fatalities, while infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and HIV/AIDS, accounted for 12.9%. 11 Additionally, cancers, particularly those affecting the upper respiratory - digestive tract, contributed to 12.6% of alcohol-related deaths. 11 Specifically in the South Korea, excessive alcohol consumption has a detrimental impact on public health. OECD reports that in 2014, deaths from alcohol-related illnesses accounted for 42.9% of all deaths in South Korean population. 1,2 In 2016, alcohol use was a contributing factor in 6.7% of all deaths among men, these amounts to 2.2% of deaths for women. 10 Consequently, alcohol ranks as the third primary behavioral risk factor, following food risk and cigarette use. 12 2

Akbota Aman It is the cause of 33% of all oesophageal cancer deaths, 15% of liver cancer deaths, 17% of breast cancer deaths, 41% of chronic liver disorders (including cirrhosis) deaths, and 20% of self-harm deaths. 1 When compared to other OECD nations, Korea has a comparatively high rate of alcohol dependency, and this number has increased recently. 1 Moreover, drinking alcohol increases the risk of crime and auto accidents. Korea has one of the highest rates of alcohol-related traffic accidents. Overall, 10.8% of all traffic accidents in Korea are caused by alcohol use. 13 Consequently, this data shows that alcohol misuse affects a significant number of populations on global and national levels. Determinants that Increase Risk Surveillance data from the OECD has shown that drinking abuse disproportionately, as men consume more alcohol than women in terms of biological sex 21.7 litres per year for males compared to 7.6 litres for females 11 . However, this has begun to alter because of shifting social standards and a rise in the number of women entering the labor. Regular alcohol intake is most prevalent in middle age for both men and women. However, 29% of men over 75 consume alcohol at least twice a week, indicating that men's drinking frequency is still rather high as they age. 1 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey s hows that alcohol misuse increased as well as in the low-income, less educated and not having occupational status adult populations in the SK. 1 Another factor contributing to alcohol misuse, reducing the age at which alcohol usage began also increased the likelihood of alcohol abuse in adulthood. The AUDIT-C questionnare provided by Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey revealed a similar pattern for both genders, but there was a tendency for men to associate early beginning alcohol use with alcohol misuse more than women did. 2,14 In South Korea, regarding cultural aspects, heavy alcohol consumption acts as enhancement of social connections and, cultivate interpersonal associations, and exhibit traditional masculine traits. 1,2 In addition, it is seen that South Korean men experiences social pressure, consuming substantial amounts of alcohol in the context of post-work social gatherings and business engagements, where declining a drink can be represented as manifestation of contempt. 1,14,16 Thus, the data indicates that the population as a whole is disproportionately vulnerable to alcohol misuse. 3

Akbota Aman Conclusion To sum up, this analysis used surveillance data to contextually demonstrate how South Korean middle- aged with low socio-economic status men are more vulnerable to alcohol abuse than older and younger age groups, or other sexes, or those who has higher socio-economic status. In addition, compared South Korean population, which has average level of alcohol consumption; however different factors has that effect on population increasing trend of being vulnerable to alcohol misuse than in other nations. Furthermore, this study used major results from original, peer-reviewed research to describe the pathological development of alcohol dependence and to give a quick summary of the risk variables related to drinking misuse in SK males. The next assignment is to dive deeper into the Ecological model researches and examine the factors that contribute to the development of alcohol misuse in this vulnerable population. These factors include the country's cultural components, social pressure and individual factors that were briefly discussed in this paper. 4

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