Schwerin (dpa/mv) – With a view to the beginning of Lent and the high rate of addiction in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Barmer health insurance company has called for conscious abstinence from alcohol. In the Christian tradition, people abstain from eating meat for about 40 days from Ash Wednesday to Easter Saturday, but often also from sweets and alcoholic beverages. “A good opportunity to give up alcohol in the long term, or at least for a few weeks,” said Barmer state manager Henning Kutzbach on Tuesday in Schwerin.
Even a temporary abstinence brings many benefits such as better sleep and fewer headaches and can also help to reduce body weight. The immune system and the ability to concentrate also benefited.
According to Barmer surveys, an above-average number of people with addictions live in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In Schwerin, for example, the rate of almost 36 addicts per 1,000 inhabitants is almost twice as high as the national average (18.4). In Germany, only Straubing in Bavaria has an even higher value. Rostock (27.2) and the six districts in the north-east are also above the German average with 21 to 26 addicts per 1000 inhabitants, it said.
“Both the potential for addiction and the health risks of alcohol are underestimated by many. This also has to do with the fact that even high-risk alcohol consumption is largely socially accepted in Germany,” stated Kutzbach. As a cell toxin, alcohol is jointly responsible for the development of more than 200 diseases. At the first sign of a possible alcohol problem, Kutzbach recommended an anonymous self-test, which is also offered online, and a discussion with a doctor.