alcohol

The challenge of changing our behaviour to slow the spread of coronavirus offers valuable clues about how we all might help reduce the harms of alcohol.

There are those aspects of coronavirus aware behaviour adults must master alone, like washing our hands or the remarkably challenging feat of not touching our faces.

But the most difficult ones for coronavirus are the social ones: turning down invitations, spurning warm hugs, gleeful handshakes, high-fives and knuckle-bumps.

Reducing alcohol use can be a personal struggle too, with the urge to use it to sooth ourselves or lift our mood often heightened by withdrawal symptoms. But the social aspects are even harder to halt.

We might need to pooh-pooh a pub visit, if the environment is hard for us. We might need to say no to a drink or, maybe, explain our choices to people doing exactly the opposite.

It is awkward and difficult, all of it, particularly to begin with, but it is possible. We may miss our old habits, but we can grow fond of alternatives which serve the same purpose.

We can see why invitations have to be declined. And we can learn to greet one with namaste, or foot-bump, bow or alcohol-free beer, or whatever other hygienic greeting we can devise.

In both cases we are adaptable creatures able to combine science, flexibility, imagination and empathy to reduce the harm we do ourselves and to others. ■

Health minister Jo Churchill chaired a meeting with alcohol industry representatives which began exploring how uptake of low-alcohol drinks might help prevent health problems on Monday.

“The roundtable was made up of representatives from the alcohol industry, trade bodies, consumer groups and retailers,” said the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

The health department said the meeting “kickstarted discussions” on proposals first outlined in the Prevention Green Paper of summer 2019.

The paper suggested increasing the availability of low-alcohol products by 2025 and reviewing evidence on raising the threshold for officially using the term “alcohol-free” to 0.5% from 0.05%.

Portman Group (PG), which represents large alcohol producers and retailers, said yesterday it “co-hosted” the meeting.

At the sam e time released a poll highlighting role its members could play in weaning their customers off alcohol, noting a quarter of alcohol drinkers are regular consumers of low-alcohol drinks.

“Work will continue on developing proposals including a further meeting with public health organisations,” said the DHSC.

Many in public health complain of a chronic lack of resources for treatment services, low alcohol prices and high levels availability and advertising. ■

One in 25 cancers is linked to alcohol consumption, with men accounting for three quarters of cases, according to a global study in Lancet Oncology.

“Public health strategies, such as reduced alcohol availability, labelling alcohol products with a health warning, and marketing bans could reduce rates of alcohol-driven cancer,” says Harriet Rumgay of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, also recommending higher taxes and minimum pricing.

The estimates would mean 740,000 cancer cases globally were linked to alcohol last year, with heavy drinkers contributing bar far the most. But there is no risk-free level of alcohol drinking and cancer. Low-level drinkers were one-in-seven of alcohol-linked cancer cases.

“It is safest not to drink alcohol, but if you do, you should stick to the UK Chief Medical Officers’ low-risk guidelines which is to drink no more than 14 units a week [or 140ml of alcohol] on a regular basis,” said Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, Chair of the UK’s Alcohol Health Alliance.

Cancers of the oesophagus, liver, and breast accounted for most of the cases. Alcohol damages DNA and affects hormone production, which can contribute to cancer development, as well as worsen the cancer-causing effects of substances like tobacco.

In the UK the alcohol-lined cancer rate was the global average of 4%, with 16,800 cases; The US, 3%, with 52,700 cases; China 6%, 282,300; Germany 4%, 21,500 cases; and France 5%, 20,000 cases. The percentage of alcohol-linked cancer cases were reckoned to be highest in Mongolia, at 10%, from 560 cases, and lowest in Kuwait, where it was 0%, with just a few cases.

The study made its estimate by looking at alcohol intake in 2010 and the number of cases of cancers known to be linked to alcohol last year. Some suspect the research may underestimate alcohol’s contribution to cancer cases, because a quarter of alcohol purchases are not captured by government figures. ■

Western culture makes a fetish of strenuous effort. Put in lots of effort, we are told, and we can reliably expect cracking results. I, like a lot of people, was brought up to believe it. Media reinforce the idea. But it is not true.

Many of us often work extremely hard and get very limited results in return. What we invariably get, however, is fatigue. Over the long term we often get chronic fatigue. We also increase our chances of injury and becoming jaded.

We also boost the chances we crave relief from the pain and strain we have induced. Enthusiastic efforts to improve our health can lead us to look for relief using alcohol or in other counterproductive ways.

I was brought up to be a firm believer in the try hard ethos. Whether it was memorising irregular foreign verbs or running round a playing field until we puked. It was all quite unpleasant, but rest assured the pain would have a pay off.

There is something to be said for seeing where our limits are and experiencing what happens when we reach them. It is instructive, but constantly pushing our gauges into the red is a flawed long-term strategy.

Real achievements typically emerge from steady, sustainable and enjoyable effort. Bodies strengthen, but they take time. Books, academic papers and brick walls take shape, but not thanks to an afternoon of frantic exertion.

Willing ourselves to regularly hit our pain thresholds can induce endorphins that soothe strain and stress. But over the long term this can backfire when we no longer want to endure discomfort simply for a painkilling payoff.

My own experience was that I became tired of the satisfaction and reward of enduring things as an end in itself. Eventually I found what Chinese philosophy calls wu wei, a slippery idea one might say means “never pushing”.

The idea is to never strain oneself. One should look at ways to sail rather than row to a destination. Rather than giving oneself a pat on the back for labouring, one should focus on technique, reducing effort and enhancing enjoyment.

It is an approach that can be well embodied in some tai chi classes. If you feel any pain or strain you are told to stop moving quite so much. The lesson for an inveterate try-harder is stop trying so hard, progress will come anyway.

I did no more than the tai chi basics, but “never pushing” works with anything. I swam this way for three years. I was never injured, tired or stressed and was able to enjoy every minute. I emerged far stronger and with technique improved. 

The ultra low intensity meant there was no pain or discomfort during or after. This meant there was not the slightest temptation to self-medicate with alcohol or anything else. Swimming itself became a longed-for stress relief.

Making never pushing and enjoyment the key parameters of success make activities themselves the rewarding relaxation it should be.  Well-being not effort is the most reliable basis for progress. ■

There are maybe 770,000 part-time and full-time jobs connected with alcohol business in the UK, according to an IAS estimate. And there are about 638.000 people who are alcohol dependent, meaning they experience side effects when not inebriated. ■