UK releases new drinking guidelines

UK Chief Medical Officers releases a new drinking guideline to start the New Year. The new guidelines gave advice on regular drinking, single episode drinking, and alcohol intake for pregnant women.

The guideline advises men and women to drink only up to 14 units of alcohol per week. Fourteen units is equivalent to 5 pints of beer at 5 percent alcohol per volume (ABV).

“On regular drinking

New weekly guideline [this applies for people who drink regularly or frequently i.e. most weeks].

The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women is that:

• You are safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units per week, to keep health risks from drinking alcohol to a low level.

• If you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread this evenly over 3 days or more. If you have one or two heavy drinking sessions, you increase your risks of death from long term illnesses and from accidents and injuries.

• The risk of developing a range of illnesses (including, for example, cancers of the mouth, throat and breast) increases with any amount you drink on a regular basis.

• If you wish to cut down the amount you’re drinking, a good way to help achieve this is to have several drink-free days each week.”

For single occasion drinkers, the guidelines suggest to drink slowly and avoid risky places.

“On single drinking episodes [this applies for drinking on any single occasion, not regular drinking, which is covered by the weekly guideline].

The Chief Medical Officers advise men and women who wish to keep their short term health risks from a single drinking occasion to a low level that they can reduce these risks by:

• limiting the total amount of alcohol you drink on any occasion;

• drinking more slowly, drinking with food, and alternating with water;

• avoiding risky places and activities, making sure you have people you know around, and ensuring you can get home safely.”

Pregnant women are advised not to drink any alcoholic drinks at all.

“The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline is that:

• If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.

• Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you

drink the greater the risk.

Most women either do not drink alcohol (19%) or stop drinking during pregnancy (40%).

The risk of harm to the baby is likely to be low if a woman has drunk only small amounts of alcohol before she knew she was pregnant or during pregnancy.

Women who find out they are pregnant after already having drunk during early pregnancy, should avoid further drinking, but should be aware that it is unlikely in most cases that their baby has been affected. If you are worried about how much you have been drinking when pregnant, talk to your doctor or midwife.”

UK Chief Medical Officers said that people can still make their own decisions regarding their drinking habit. The guidelines were presented to help people make informed choices.

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Category: Features, Health alert