Research has shown that drinking alcohol in moderate amounts can be beneficial to the health, for men over the age of 40 and women in the menopause having a couple of small drinks per day can help in the prevention of heart disease.
Having said this it is also a fact that over a quarter of men and one in every six women drink enough alcohol to put their health at risk.
How much is too much? Guidelines suggest that men should drink no more than three to four units of alcohol per day and women should have no more than two to three units per day, it is important to remember that these units shouldn’t be stored up and used together all in one session and go on a binge drinking spree.
What is a unit?
A single unit of alcohol is 8 grams of pure alcohol regardless of the amount of liquid the alcohol is contained in; the strength of the alcohol is measured by the percentage of alcohol per volume. To make things easier to understand one unit of alcohol is:
- About half a pint of regular strength lager, beer or cider.
- A 25 ml measure in a pub of any spirit or a small glass of sherry or port.
- 125 ml of wine.
Alcohol dependency
People are said to be dependent on alcohol when it is drunk in large quantities and not just socially, there are a number of ways that a Doctor can tell if patients have drink problems and have become dependent on alcohol.
The Doctor will ask the patient screening questions such as the amount of alcohol you drink and the frequency, if the amount you drink, does drinking lead to problems in your social life, with relationships and at work. You are said to have a dependency on alcohol if you have experienced three or more of the following in a year:
- Difficulty controlling the amount you drink.
- You often get a strong urge to drink.
- You cannot get through the day without having a drink.
- You are negligent of other activities.
- You persistently drink even though you know its causing problems.
Alcohol suppresses your better judgment; it also has an effect on your physical co-ordination, causes loss of balance and slurred speech. Drinking large amounts of alcohol at any one time is called binge drinking and can lead to coma or even death.
The long term effects
Drinking large quantities of alcohol ever week greatly increases the risk of diseases, drinking excessively is associated with:
- Loss of the brain cells.
- Epilepsy.
- Liver failure.
- Irritation of the lining of the stomach.
- High blood pressure.
- Certain types of cancer.
- Go out later than you would normally do and don’t try to fit in the same amount of alcohol, drink slowly.
- Stop taking lunch breaks in the pub.
- Have at least two days free from alcohol.
- Buy beers and wines with low alcohol content.
- Change your routine go to see a movie instead of going for a drink.
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