Alcohol Awareness

Alcohol and health

Alcohol is a legal drug but can be just as harmful as any other.  Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream; the length of time the effects last depends on the strength and amount of alcohol consumed.  People can feel aggressive, less inhibited and uncoordinated.  Alcohol is often used with other drugs, and this exaggerates the effects.  Long-term use of alcohol can lead to severe health problems such as liver cirrhosis, kidney failure and obesity.

Alcohol Limits & Units
As alcohol is widely consumed, it is easy to forget the harm it can cause to an individual’s physical and mental health.  The NHS recommended maximum daily limits are:

* Men: 3 - 4 units of alcohol a day (there are 3 units in one pint of premium strength lager or beer)
* Women: 2 - 3 units of alcohol a day (that’s one large glass of wine or one double gin and tonic)

The following information provides information on the number of units contained in some common drinks, based on typical alcoholic strengths.  The ABV (alcohol by volume %) shows what percentage of the drink is pure alcohol - the higher the percentage, the stronger the drink.

Alcohol Consumption Levels & Risks

People who drink heavily are not necessarily dependant on alcohol.  They may have got into the habit of regularly drinking alcohol or in ‘binges’ of heavy consumption.  Drinking regularly above the recommended levels increases the risk of developing health problems, either in the short-term or as longer term serious illnesses.

Alcohol Risk Levels
It is advised to try and avoid alcohol for 48 hours after a heavy drinking session to give your body time to recover.  The harmful effects of regular heavy drinking when you are young may not become obvious for several years.  As you get older, the risks from alcohol consumption to your health can increase.

People with serious or long standing health and social problems from alcohol, may have also developed a level of dependence on alcohol.  This may include drinking to relieve or avoid physical discomfort from withdrawal symptoms, habitual daily alcohol use or heavy use over prolonged periods.

Alcohol & Relationships
Drinking alcohol affects your mood and behaviour which means it will also affect the people around you, your partner, your friends, your children and the people you work with.  Family, friends and work colleagues of excessive drinkers can suffer very seriously from the effects of another’s drinking; often long before the negative health effects become apparent to the individual drinker.

Alcohol makes you less sensitive to other people’s emotions and can be damaging to relationships through lack of judgement.  Family and friends often have to deal with the consequences of an individual’s drinking, such as increasingly having arguments, domestic abuse or covering for times when they have let others down.

It is important for family and friends to realise that they cannot force someone to cut down or stop drinking or that the situation will change suddenly even if they do.  Support can be given by encouraging them to set achievable goals if they are ready to do so.

Children learn behaviour largely from their parents, including  associations with alcohol consumption.  How, when and the amount parents consume may affect how young people drink now and in the future.  Where parents frequently drink to excessive levels, this increases the chances that their children will experience alcohol-related harm.

The children of parents who misuse alcohol are at a greater risk of mental ill-health, behavioural problems, involvement with the police, and substance misuse (including alcohol).  Parental alcohol misuse also increases the likelihood of young people having carer responsibilities at a young age, not reaching their full potential in school and witnessing domestic abuse or experiencing the breakdown of the parental relationship.

Alcohol & Pregnancy
There are significant risks attached to drinking alcohol whilst pregnant.  The unborn baby cannot process alcohol as fast as its mother and is exposed to greater amounts of alcohol for longer periods of time.  Too much exposure to alcohol can seriously affect the development of unborn babies.

Pregnant women and women who are trying to conceive are advised to avoid all alcohol, with a recommended limit of no more than 1-2 units, once or twice a week.  That is the equivalent of one or two single gin and tonics.

Many problems triggered by drinking can be reduced by moderating alcohol consumption.  If you want to cut down on your alcohol consumption and reduce the risks to your health here are a few tips to get you started:

* Try to have a few days a week that you specifically don’t drink alcohol;
* Don’t let people top up your drink – this will make it easier to keep track of how much you are drinking;
* Choose drinks that contain less alcohol (ABV%) without drinking more drinks than you would normally;

Alcohol & Rape
This was a campaign run to highlight the links between drinking and rape.  It was a campaign led by Thames Valley Police in conjunction with Nightsafe, Rape Crisis and local Community Safety Teams.

Alcohol & Rape Posters

264 Kb

Alcohol in the Workplace Leaflet
This leaflet provides advice on how to draw up a workplace alcohol policy as well as information on local services for both employers and employees.

Working Limits Booklet

171 Kb

Alcohol & Cocaine
Using alcohol and cocaine together, results in a chemical reaction in the body producing cocaethylene.  Cocaethylene is a highly toxic substance that has serious physical and psychological side effects and takes twice as long to leave your system as cocaine does.  It increases the dopamine release in the brain, potentially enhancing the length of the high; however the risk of death is significantly increased.