Are YOU drinking more than your friends? Use our interactive tool to tell to you exactly how you compare to others of your age and gender – as our experts reveal surprising risk factor that puts your liver in danger
Last year, the UK hit a grim milestone: More than 10,000 people died as a result of heavy drinking, the largest number on record.
The figure is not only tragic but also, on the surface, surprising.
Alcohol consumption in Britain has declined since 2004 – the year experts believe the UK hit ‘peak booze’ – according to research.
Meanwhile an astonishing one in four members of Gen Z (those aged between 18 and 28) are now teetotal.
Experts argue that the reason for this worrying rise in alcohol deaths is clear: While many people are drinking less, a small, but not insignificant, proportion of the population are regularly consuming too much alcohol.
However, how can patients know when they are drinking too much? And by how much do they need to reduce their intake to avoid life-threatening complications?
Using The Daily Mail’s alcohol tracker, you can work out how much you are drinking and how it compares to others of the same age and gender. Our tool can also tell if you are drinking above the NHS recommended weekly limit.
More than 320,000 people are admitted to hospital each year with alcohol-related conditions. The majority of those who fall severely ill and die as a result of booze suffer from alcohol-related liver disease.
However, research shows excessive alcohol consumption is also linked with heart problems, cancer and mental health issues.
Experts have long argued that people who binge drink, consuming more than five units of alcohol in two hours, are at particular risk of alcohol-related illnesses. One in five Britons admit to regularly binge drinking.
In recent years, researchers have also warned about the dangers of a form of alcohol abuse known as high-intensity drinking, which involves having eight or more drinks in one night.
Both forms of excessive drinking are particularly harmful because the body does not have enough time to filter out the alcohol. This leads to dangerously high levels of booze in the body.
However, the dangers of more moderate levels of drinking are still debated amongst experts.
In 2016, the NHS guidelines on alcohol were updated following a review of the evidence of the harms caused by drinking too much.
The changes, introduced by then Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies, advised everyone to have several completely alcohol-free days, recommended pregnant women drink no alcohol at all and, crucially, recommended that men and women drink no more than 14 units spread over a week.
‘There’s no such thing as a safe level of drinking,’ argues Professor Dame Sally Davies, the former Chief Medical Officer
That’s roughly equivalent to six pints of beer, a bottle and a half of wine or 14 single measures of spirits.
At the time, Dame Sally said: ‘There’s no such thing as a safe level of drinking.’
Studies show that around a quarter of British adults exceed 14 units most weeks. According to NHS data, 55 to 74-year-olds are most likely to drink more than the recommended amount – with a third admitting to regularly consuming more than 14 units a week.
Those over-75 are least likely, with less than a quarter saying they exceed the NHS recommended amount.
However, experts say exceeding 14 units a week will not necessarily lead to harm.
‘‘There is no magic number here – no cliff edge where, if you drink below that level you’re safe to drink, and over that and you’re going to die,’ says Prof John Holmes, an alcohol policy expert at the University of Sheffield whose team in the Sheffield Addictions Research Group produced modelling work which informed the 2016 guidelines.
‘Broadly speaking, the risk increases with each additional drink you consume, and it increases particularly sharply for higher levels of consumption. Ultimately, it’s just a guideline not a limit, as it’s often described.’
Government health chiefs recommend 14 units a week for both men and women. It’s less than most people think: roughly equivalent to six pints of beer, a bottle and a half of wine or 14 single measures of spirits
Just how much does the risk of ill-health rise with every drink over 14 units?
In 2018, a major study, published in the Lancet medical journal, concluded that regularly drinking twice as many units as the NHS recommends – 28 units a week – would, on average, lower life expectancy by just six months.
Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter, one of Britain’s leading statisticians, has in the past described moderate drinking as less dangerous for long term health than ‘an hour of TV watching a day, or a bacon sandwich a couple times a week’.
However, experts say the alcohol poses greater risks to women than men. This is because research suggests that alcohol levels remain higher in women’s blood for longer. Women have higher rates of liver disease, heart damage and cancer from lower levels of drinking.
And all experts agree that people worried about their alcohol intake should avoid binge drinking as much as possible – and speak to their GP if they feel unable to cut down.
NHS data shows that 55 to 64-year-olds are most likely to binge – with just over a fifth admitting to the harmful practice in the past week.
Those aged between 35 to 44 were the second most frequent bingers, with a fifth admitting to it.
‘Many people don’t realise how seriously harmful binge drinking is for your health,’ says Zaheen Ahmed, director of therapy at UKAT, an addiction clinic.
‘And the more someone binges, the more difficult it will be for them to quit, because they can become physically dependent on alcohol.
‘Anyone who is concerned about their drinking should speak to their GP. The first thing they will likely do is order a liver test, which will provide clear evidence of the damage that person is doing to their body.
‘However, a GP will probably also recommend problem drinkers see a mental health specialist. This is because, often, people who regularly binge have underlying mental health issues like anxiety or depression.’
