The risks of alcohol consumption

Don’t forget the risks of excessive alcohol, warns Lisa Salmon            

Two cans of lager for a man, or two standard glasses of wine for a woman, might not sound excessive – but regularly consuming any more than this means you’re flouting official alcohol guidelines and, yes, possibly damaging your health.

While the guidelines – men shouldn’t regularly exceed three to four units a day, which is equivalent to two cans of regular strength lager; and women shouldn’t regularly drink more than two to three units daily, equivalent to one 175ml glass of wine – might seem stingy they exist for a reason.

Evidence suggests that keeping within these limits means the risk of developing health problems associated with alcohol will be low.

According to experts, people who often drink just above the suggested amount increase their risk of ill-health significantly.

For example, regularly drinking two large glasses of wine or two pints of strong lager a day could make you three times as likely to get mouth cancer, while regularly drinking just above the guidelines increases the risk of breast cancer by around 20%, and the risk of liver cirrhosis becomes 1.7 times higher.

Linda Bould, a a professor of health policy at the University of Stirling, says that many people think they can save their units for the weekend, but she stresses:

“If you look at breast cancer, the risk from alcohol consumption starts at a very low level. So a woman who’s drinking a bottle of wine on a Saturday night is at higher risk than a woman who doesn’t drink at all.”

She suggests that drinking half a bottle of wine a night for some women has been normalised, despite the fact many studies have shown such amounts are damaging, “ I don’t think people really believe it,” she says.

“People’s understanding of the risk factors of drinking alcohol and getting cancer are very low – most people don’t think alcohol causes cancer.”

The risks aren’t the same across all diseases, of course. Where heart disease is concerned, studies suggest there’s no significant difference in risk levels between drinking a bottle of wine at the weekend and drinking a few units throughout the week.

“I suppose it depends which condition you’re concerned about,” says Bould.

“But if a woman’s drinking two bottles of wine over the weekend, for example, she’s putting herself at higher risk of a pretty significant range of health conditions.”

Rather than focusing on what people can drink, experts suggest there should be more emphasis on taking a break from alcohol, and having at least two or three alcohol-free days a week.

As well as being associated with weight gain and negatively affecting skin, mood and sexual performance, regularly drinking more than the recommended guidelines is linked with a number of serious health problems, including:

Increased risk of cancer of the throat, oesophagus or larynx

Breast cancer in women

Stroke

Heart disease

High blood pressure

Liver disease such as cirrhosis and liver cancer

Pancreatitis

Reduced fertility

See drinkaware.ie and alcoholireland.ie