Alcohol guidelines for men have been brought down to the same level as for women – 14 units of alcohol each week, or six pints of beer – which could lower the risk of illnesses such as liver disease and cancer.
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The guidelines are supported by a new review from the Committee on Carcinogenicity (CoC) on alcohol and cancer risk.
Pregnant women: Previous guidelines suggested that expectant mothers should avoid drink, but could safely consume one or two units of alcohol once or twice a week at the very most. The previous guidelines were 21 units for men and 14 units for women per week.
It has also mentioned that even if people drink, they should indulge into moderate drinking only over three or more days. Having several alcohol-free days a week is suggested as a way to reduce intake. Instead, England, Wales and Northern Ireland say that no level of alcohol is safe to drink in pregnancy.
She further said that guidelines issued by the government aims to provide the public with “the latest and most up-to-date scientific information so that they can make informed decisions about their own drinking and the level of risk they are prepared to take”.
Among non-drinking men, 64 in every 1,000 will develop bowel cancer, and this stays the same for those drinking 14 units or fewer per week.
Commenting on this change, Dr McBride said: “We need to be particularly clear about the risks of alcohol during pregnancy – as a precaution pregnant women should avoid alcohol”.
While many are not amenable with the maximum amount of alcohol recommended by the newly released guidance, drinking too much alcohol undeniably comes with potentially deadly risks.
As well as the risk of accident and injury, drinking alcohol regularly is linked to long-term risks such as heart disease, cancer, liver disease, and epilepsy.
This is the first full update of United Kingdom advice on drinking since 1995 – and medical chiefs say they looked at evidence from all over the world to come up with them.
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Balance director Colin Shevills said: “People have a right to know that alcohol is in the same cancer causing class as tobacco and the health risks increase even at low levels of consumption”. There is no “safe” level of drinking when it comes to cancer – the less you drink, the lower your risk. While that doesn’t change anything for women, past recommendations had set limits for men at about nine glasses of wine or beer a week. People who have more than about four drinks daily run up to triple the risk of contracting cancers of the head and neck than non-drinkers.
