There is no safe level of alcohol drinking, something linked to almost one-in-ten deaths in adults under 50 globally, says a study published today in The Lancet. [Read more…] about There is no safe level of alcohol drinking
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Alcohol-dementia link far bigger than thought
Alcohol drinking is linked to 57% of cases of early-onset dementia, according to a new study, far more than most experts had guessed.
“Our findings suggest that the burden of dementia attributable to alcohol use disorders is much larger than previously thought,” says lead author Dr Michaël Schwarzinger of the Translational Health Economics Network.
“While it is widely recognised that heavy drinking can have detrimental physical effects, we have not tended to think about these in terms of brain functioning. This research suggests we should focus more of our attention in that direction,” says James Nicholls of Alcohol Research UK.
Alcohol use disorders were associated with three-times the risk of all types of dementia, making it the strongest modifiable risk factor for dementia onset. The paper suggests reducing dementia cases by having screening, interventions and treatment for heavy drinking.
The alcohol-dementia link may be stronger even than this study implies because alcohol problems are underdiagnosed. The French study made the link by looking at diagnoses of mental and behavioural disorders attributed to alcohol use or and alcohol-related liver disease.
The finding is “immensely important” according to Professor Clive Ballard of the University of Exeter. “We should move forward with clear public health messages about the relationship between both alcohol use disorders and alcohol consumption, respectively, and dementia.”
“The link between dementia and alcohol use disorders needs further research, but is likely a result of alcohol leading to permanent structural and functional brain damage,” says Dr Schwarzinger. He also recommends cutting availability, increasing tax and banning advertising.
Of the 57,000 early onset dementia cases examined, 18% came alongside a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder, in addition to the 39% of cases which were already recognised as being alcohol-related. Early onset dementia is dementia diagnosed before we are 65.
The association between heavy drinking and dementia onset has been poorly measured. This is a reason why it was not included in the modifiable risk factors included in the Lancet commission on dementia prevention last year, says Dr Schwarzinger.
Drinking consistently less than 14 UK units (140ml) of alcohol a week is reckoned to mean dementia risk is low. Alcohol is not a medicine or health tonic. ■
Heineken launches its first alcohol-free beer | The Fix
Heineken’s master brewer Willem van Waesberghe says that the brewery researched non-alcoholic beers and took two years to perfect the formula of Heineken 0.0. “We pulled Heineken beers apart and looked at how we could get the Heineken tastes,” van Waesberghe said. However, even after extensive research, he acknowledged that the taste will be different.
Source: www.thefix.com/heineken-launches-its-first-alcohol-free-beer
Note: Interested to read any reviews. ■
Children of alcohol dependents lose Tory champion | philcain.com
Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood, who as health minister ordered a strategy to help the children of alcohol dependent people, narrowly lost her Oxfordshire seat to a Lib Dem in last week’s parliamentary election.
There is no mention of the strategy in the Conservative or LibDem manifestos, while an explicit commitment to it appears in Labour’s. Labour champions of developing a strategy, Jonathan Ashworth and Liam Byrne, were re-elected.
Blackwood’s replacement as minister with responsibility for public health has yet to be named. Ashworth was re-appointed Shadow Minister for Health on Wednesday. ■
Sobriety sizzles
There are signs sobriety is creating the “sizzle” it needs to achieve the popularity it deserves.
Low-risk drinking is, on the face of it, the stuff of marketing executives’ dreams, a robust product with undisputed benefits, available to all at negative cost.
Yes, negative cost. It is not some something-for-nothing deal. This is a something-for-money-back deal. It is both beneficial and profitable for its adopters.
While easing the load on our wallets, it improves our sleep, relieves depression and anxiety, promotes clearer thinking, boosts resilience, reduces mistakes and accidents, and avoids disease.
Drinking rates, nevertheless, barely budge from year to year. Imagine it: health payoffs and dollar bills lying around across the globe and yet few of us trouble to pick them up.
Is this a rational choice? Is heavy drinking really worth the price we pay? It seems doubtful. So, then, what is going wrong?
Knowledge and desire
It is partly misunderstanding. The scientific findings around alcohol are counterintuitive and constantly undermined, as I found while writing my book Alcohol Companion.
A stats-fest tickles our cortices but does not push the buttons which guide our humdrum choices.
Everyday decisions are rarely made through agonising rational computation. Think of a trip to a supermarket. We lob things in our trolleys mostly to answer emotional and sensory appeals.
We need to connect with choices on a non-intellectual level for them to be easy and enjoyable. This applies to rational choices as much as self-defeating ones.
Marketing people know this. Winning our decisions is about “selling the sizzle, not the sausage”.
It is not just meat though. We prefer crisped rice with added Snap, Crackle and Pop too. An iPhone is no better, yet is still more desirable.
Better health labelling, though important to have, will not be enough to provide the sizzle that makes low-risk alcohol choices desirable in the way which shifts our behaviour.
Low-risk drinking needs sizzle to turn its stock of wholesome statistical sausagemeat into a tempting consumer choice.
Turning up the gas
It is starting to happen. The online world is fulfilling our need for superficial socialising, an area where alcohol once reigned supreme. Psychology, meanwhile, is giving more insight into happiness.
These developments are being met by the arrival of a new generation of alcohol-free alternatives allowing us low-hassle alcohol opt-outs, with a positive placebo-effect thrown in.
The contribution of public health professionals, counsellors, treatment providers, campaigners and help groups, meanwhile, are being supplemented by fresh new communities like Club Soda and Soberistas.
The payoff is potentially huge. Globally alcohol is among the top four reasons for us to lose healthy years of life and a major contributor to crime rates and countless lesser cock-ups.
Reducing the impact by any significant amount would deliver benefits across society, particularly for poorer people. It would also free resources to tackle other problems.
Putting reasonable choices in attractive packages is as essential as the science they are composed of. Sobriety is becoming increasingly tempting and this is worth celebrating. ■
[summary] Public involvement in alcohol research | Alcohol Research UK
Key points
- “Public involvement is not simple, but creating stronger links between universities, services, volunteers, and individuals with lived experiences is essential if the work we fund is to continue to help improve lives.” —Dr James Nicholls, Director of Research and Policy Development, Alcohol Research UK
- Public involvement can be applied to all stages of research: Research strategy; Funding allocation; Development of research plans and proposals; Carrying out primary research; Data analysis and interpretation; Peer review; Communication and dissemination
- Recommendations:
– Make it fit: The level and nature of public involvement in a given research project should be appropriate to the subject
– Invest time in building relationships
– Try to find common language that everyone is comfortable with
– It is important to manage expectations. Public involvement does not guarantee the success of a research project
– Provide remuneration and reimburse expenses
Note: Here is an outline of some ways the public has contributed to addiction research from Alcohol Research UK’s spring event on this topic. ■