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News: Dementia risk found at all alcohol levels; Post-pandemic alcohol deaths in Scotland plateau; UK FASD failures; Violence drop after alcohol restrictions; Men’s Sheds defends alcohol partnership; US awareness rises. Opinion: Commercial awareness is an essential health defence. Shareable messages: Alcohol’s overall health risk and for dementia.
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News:
Dementia risk found at all alcohol levels: There is a positive linear causal relationship between alcohol consumption and dementia among current drinkers, according to a study of over 300,000 UK drinkers in a Lancet journal. A mendelian randomisation analysis of the statistics does not show a dip in risk at lower doses, as seen in previous studies. Last month a Lancet commission recommended alcohol price controls to combat dementia, promoting an Alcohol Review message this month.
Post-pandemic alcohol deaths in Scotland plateau: Alcohol-specific deaths in Scotland were almost unchanged from the year before in 2023, at their highest level for 15 years. Death among women fell 5.5% but that was not enough to compensate for a 3% increase among men. Overall deaths are still 25% above pandemic levels. Those wanting to discredit minimum unit pricing policy are ignoring the discontinuity in the statistics.
FASD failure: The vast majority of the relevant bodies in England and Wales are not commissioning for the diagnosis and management of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder care for children, young people and adults, says a new survey from the NGO National FASD.
Steep violence drop after alcohol restrictions: Three towns in Western Australia’s far north saw a 42% fall in the number of alcohol-related family and domestic violence offences in the six weeks after alcohol restrictions were introduced in July.
Men’s wellbeing charity defends controversial alcohol partnership: The UK Men’s Sheds Association acknowledged concerns from health experts and shed users about its partnership with alcohol giant Diageo, as reported in the last issue, but highlighting the benefits of the controversial deal.
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US awareness rises: A new high of 45% of Americans say drinking one or two alcoholic beverages per day is bad for one’s health, a six-percentage-point increase since last year and a 17-point increase since the prior reading in 2018.
X-ternal feed: Alcohol Review started a Threads account for people tired of the atmos on Twitter/X. It is very quiet though.
Opinion:
Alertness to commercial interests is an essential health defence
Acknowledging that the profit motive warps health information is not just for alcohol policy nerds. It can help us lead healthier, more rewarding lives, at lower risk and lower cost.
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Alcohol messages
Alcohol risk made simple: The chance that alcohol causes our death increases rapidly with the amount consumed. Drinking under 140ml a week is estimated to keep the chances of an alcohol death below 1/100. The only way to make the risk zero risk is to not drink any.
Alcohol can cause brain damage and dementia: Drinking more than a small amount of alcohol increases the risk of developing dementia in later life and can cause early-onset dementia and brain damage.
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