THE number of Hampshire residents suffering from alcohol-related liver disease has risen, new data have revealed.

According to NHS figures, 51 patients in Southampton were treated for alcohol-related liver disease last year – 12 more than in the period between April 2012 and March 2013.

The figures are even higher for areas including Eastleigh, Test Valley, Winchester, Andover and the New Forest, with 53 patients being treated for alcohol-related liver disease in the last 12 months.

This represents a 28% increase from 2013, when 40 patients were treated for the same disease.

The rate for the whole of England is 26 for every 100,000 people but it ranges from about three in Tower Hamlets to 82 in South Sefton.

Professor Roger Williams, director of the Institute of Hepatology, said the statistics were “horrifying” and proposed setting a minimum price per unit of alcohol to curb drinking.

He said: “Liver disease is the only exception to the improvement over the past years in life expectancy for chronic disorders such as strokes, heart disease and many cancers. Mortality rates have increased about 600 per cent in the last 50 years. That happens because alcohol consumption among the population has increased and this is linked to the fact that the cost of alcoholic drinks proportionally have fallen. Setting a minimum alcohol price is a highly effective way of dealing with the problem.”

Scotland adopted this measure in May, setting a 50 pence minimum price per unit of alcohol. States in the USA, Russia, Moldova, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have implemented similar policies.

The NHS has warned alcohol-related liver disease does not usually cause any symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged.

When that happens symptoms can include feeling sick, weight loss, loss of appetite and yellowing of the eyes and skin.