Cherry Healey: Old Before My Time

Cherry Healey meets medical experts who are treating young recovering alcoholics.

Cherry Healey meets young people with health problems associated with their past drug use.

Series in which Cherry Healey investigates the alarming rise in numbers of young people suffering from illnesses associated with older people due to alcohol, drugs and obesity. We all know that drinking, drugs and fast food are bad for you, but these days a life of excess isn't just leaving young people hungover, it's accelerating their age - hit by chronic conditions usually the preserve of pensioners, their young bodies and minds are ready for retirement. In the final programme, Cherry meets young people who are dangerously obese and the surgeons who are treating them. Clair gained weight through a combination of stress and medication and has now developed a range of obesity-related illnesses like gout, asthma and bad joints and is on more medication than your average OAP. Clair is having gastric bypass surgery, a major and irreversible step as a last ditch resort to control her obesity. Tom also gained weight through medication and developed non-alcoholic liver disease. To cure his condition, he has been fitted with a gastric balloon to try and shed some of his 22 stone and six months on he has already lost five stone.