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Women turn to reformed alcoholic Russell to beat booze

Feb 7 2010 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

DOZENS of women who are secretly drinking up to six bottles of wine a day have turned to a reformed alcoholic in a desperate bid to beat their demons.

Russell Hughes from Sunderland, who is promoting a treatment for alcoholism through his company Aluston Health Ltd

Your Sunday Sun told how businessman Russell Hughes beat a 40-units a day alcohol addiction by jetting to Latvia to undergo a pioneering treatment known as “The Code”.

The treatment saw Russell undergo a detox, an injection of a chemical compound to help him reject booze and an implant of the drug Disulfiram, which makes users violently ill if they have alcohol.

Two years on and totally alcohol-free, the 44-year-old and his partner Dartya have set up Aluston Health, a specialist service organising trips to Latvia, where those with drink problems can undergo a similar treatment programme.

And since we featured the dad-of-two two weeks ago, he has been inundated with calls from people across the UK, most notably, he says, from women in their 40s who are harbouring secret drinking habits from friends and family.

Russell said: “I’ve been really very shocked, not just by the number of calls I have had but the fact that 95% of those who have been in touch are women in their late 30s and early 40s, some of whom are drinking up to six bottles of wine – which is about 48 units – or a whole bottle of vodka, a day.

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