Dr Sadie Boniface looks at the trends in alcohol consumption and harm throughout 2021. Read more »
2021 alcohol consumption and harm: no signs of a ‘return to normal’
Health
Does alcohol make you fat?
The relationship between alcohol and obesity is extremely complex. Dr Gary O’Donovan looks at what the UK Government can do in their ‘war on obesity’ regarding alcohol consumption, and shows an interesting new finding about men, alcohol and BMI. Read more »
Does a tipple topple the scales? The science on alcohol and body weight
Does alcohol increase calorie intake? Does alcohol lead to weight gain? Mackenzie Fong’s new study looks at these important questions, at a time when the UK Government is looking to tackle an epidemic of obesity. Read more »
Is it time to help alcohol retailers make more money by selling less alcohol?
Public health bodies need to focus on more specific policy aims in order to make a difference and educational campaigns can develop the necessary climate to implement these policies. Read more »
Preventing harmful alcohol consumption is an excellent investment for countries
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published an in-depth book that highlights the huge cost of alcohol harm across 52 countries, and models how much could be saved by enhancing public health policies. Read more »
How can we use what we already know about health inequality to understand inequalities in alcohol harm?
As part of the Royal College of Physicians action on health inequalities day, our blog post looks at four key theories in health inequality and their potential to help understand the causes of alcohol harm inequality. Read more »
Alcohol, pregnancy and Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD): NICE, PHE, DHSC and other bodies are finally getting serious
For FASD awareness month, Sandra Butcher gives a detailed update on progress made in the improvement of FASD care, with a number of health bodies developing new guidelines. Read more »
Medicines to support recovery from alcohol: are they being used?
Dr Kim Donoghue looks at drug prescription rates for people receiving alcohol treatment and assesses why rates are so low. Read more »
Why are the disadvantaged at greater risk of alcohol harm despite often drinking less than the advantaged?
People from lower socioeconomic groups suffer greater rates of alcohol-related hospitalisations. Jennifer Boyd’s study reviewed explanations and theories for why this is the case. Read more »
What has psychology taught us about alcohol so far and what should we do next? – Part 1 of our series on the Palgrave Handbook
Richard Cooke and Emma Davies introduce us to a broad range of research into the psychological approach of understanding alcohol consumption.
Poor representativeness in alcohol cohorts: the nail in the coffin of the ‘heart health benefits’ of moderate drinking?
Professor Emmanual Stamatakis wonders whether the claims of moderate drinking’s benefits have been premised on faulty data
Read more »
Alcohol problems and insurance
Insurance is not usually associated with alcohol problems, but there are good reasons for focusing on the two subjects in conjunction, as they give rise to multiple problems, argues Jonathan Goodliffe Read more »
Alcohol control policies, socioeconomic inequalities, and adolescent alcohol use
Eva Leal-López argues a combination of alcohol control policies are key to reducing inequalities among adolescents Read more »
Should alcohol packaging display graphic tobacco-style health warning labels?
Natasha Clarke and Gareth Hollands, Behaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge Read more »
COVID-19 and alcohol – consumption data strengthens case for ambitious alcohol policy
COVID-19 has put health resilience and preparedness at the forefront of every political debate – How ready were we and our health systems to deal with a public health crisis of this scale? Read more »
Hazardous drinkers show elevated ‘waiting impulsivity’, relative to lighter drinking controls
We need interventions to address the issue of those who respond to stimuli prematurely, arges Matthew Mayhew Read more »
The label appeal: A look at industry interference in the little warning labelling study that could
Part 2 of a blogpost on the history of a groundbreaking labelling study illustrates the level of industry opposition faced by the researchers involved Read more »
Alcohol warning labels reduce sales, change minds, and increase knowledge
Results from the Northern Territories Alcohol Labels study in Canada Read more »
Confronting the coronavirus: South Africa’s response
It seems the South African Government, now more than ever, is willing to consider a re-evaluation of the liquor regulatory environment Read more »
Evaluating the effect of individual alcohol licensing decisions on local health and crime
Licensing authority control of alcohol availability can have a positive impact on health and crime in a local vicinity Read more »
Are there associations between drinking contexts and harms that are not explained by the level of alcohol consumption?
Abigail Stevely explains the findings of her research Read more »
No strangers to the bar: the drinking habits of MPs
Dr Tony Rao describes a recent study examining alcohol use by Members of the UK Parliament Read more »
MUP – let’s not lose another decade to alcohol harm
Colin Shevills calls for action on cheap alcohol in England, arguing that the need MUP is ‘becoming hard to ignore’ Read more »
Does knowing alcohol can cause cancer improve support alcohol policies?
Canadian research group study examines possibility Read more »
Parental supply of alcohol across adolescence increases risk of alcohol-related harms in early adulthood
Biostatistician Philip Clare on research findings that support the Australian Government’s recommendation that any alcohol consumption in adolescence should be avoided Read more »
The alcohol harm paradox revisited on a local level
Research Coordinator Dr Sadie Boniface explains findings from a localised study looking at alcohol harm Read more »
Dry January in France: Taking up the challenge
Sonia Bigot provides a French perspective on Dry January Read more »
The Public Health Responsibility Deal and the challenge to effective alcohol policy
Ben Hawkins and Jim McCambridge take a look back at the much hyped scheme and ask what impact it truly had on alcohol policy Read more »
‘Untreated help seekers’ in addictions deserve attention in future research
Dr Sadie Boniface and Prof Sir John Strang discuss the need for research to focus attention on those who present only for an initial appointment at drug and alcohol services Read more »
DrinkTank – Alcohol industry calling the shots on Australian health policy
Cross-posted from the Drink Tank website Read more »
Alcohol drinking and risk of liver diseases in Chinese men: why and what do we learn from them?
Pek Kei Im describes her KBS award-winning paper on the relationship between alcohol consumption and liver disease risk among Chinese men Read more »
Newly defined at-risk drinkers following the change to the UK low risk drinking guidelines: who and what to do?
Researcher Philippa Case explores findings from a new study on ‘newly defined at-risk drinkers’ following a change to the UK’s low risk drinking guidelines. Crossposted from Alcohol Policy UK Read more »
Alcohol causes significant harm to those other than the drinker
We need to screen adults for social risk factors if we are to combat the secondhand effects of alcohol Read more »
Alcohol in sport: a crusher of dreams or a helping hand?
The relationship between athletes and alcohol is perhaps not as straightforward as it seems at first glance, says academic (and runner) Sian Edwards Read more »
Doing harm by doing good
In the wake of the Heineken scandal, Kate Robaina says that the façade of corporate social responsibility initiatives extends far beyond that of the Dutch brewer Read more »
Preventing the cycle of alcohol-related harm
To meet the Secretary of State’s goal of truly prioritising prevention, we need a comprehensive new alcohol strategy, argues Dame Professor Kumar Read more »
Alcohol policy should be central to suicide prevention policy
Few suicide prevention policies address the influence of alcohol in the process – Nicola Kalk suggests how we might address this issue in the UK Read more »
Don’t Drink and Drown
Royal Life Saving Society Chief Exec Di Steer draws attention to a tragic issue Read more »
Nanny states and grown-up debates on alcohol policy
Reducing arguments to simplistic – even incoherent – claims and accusations is not good for reasoned, public deliberation, says Professor John Coggon Read more »
Tell me more, tell me more – what’s this industry-led public health initiative about?
How useful are the messages given by Public Health England’s partnership initiative with industry sponsored Drinkaware? Researcher Colin Angus finds out Read more »
Communication of the CMO drinking guidelines in antenatal care – as simple as it sounds?
More work is needed to explore midwives’ efforts work in implementing the guidelines Read more »
Things can only get better?
Paul Hayes, outgoing chief executive of Collective Voice, offers his reflections on how alcohol policy has developed over the course of his career Read more »
Frequent drinkers unravelled
They may think themselves responsible, but older people may not recognise that their drinking could be a risk to their health, argues Bethany Kate Bareham Read more »
How common is alcohol and drug dependency across the world?
Hannah Ritchie presents a global picture of the state of substance dependency in five colourful charts Read more »
Communicating research on anxiety and alcohol use at Research Without Borders
Maddy Dyer invites you to contemplate the relationship between both factors – at her mock pub Read more »
Alcohol and mental health: time for concerted action
The links are well known, but we need leadership to change things for the better, says Andy Bell Read more »
Addicted lawyers: can the insurance industry help?
Insurers may be well placed to step in where support groups struggle, writes Jonathan Goodliffe Read more »
Let’s help pregnant women not drink
Women receive too many conflicting messages. Let’s just stick to the facts, urges Catherine Gray Read more »
New lower risk drinking guidelines – did they effect ‘COM-B’ determinants of behaviour change?
It is unlikely that the aim of informing healthy drinking choices was met, writes Abigail Stevely Read more »
InterMAHP – a new way of calculating alcohol-attributable fractions
The International Model of Alcohol Harms and Policies is a new research tool for estimating alcohol harms Read more »
Super-strength lager is a beer for sipping, possibly from a wine glass – and other delusions
Jeremy Swain hopes for change to the a tax regime in the 2017 Autumn Budget that will deal with the devastation wreaked by high strength ciders and lagers Read more »
Carthage must be destroyed
‘The struggle to stop the UK drowning in cheap alcohol can be won, but it requires exceptional powers of endurance,’ writes professor Rob Poole Read more »
Why are girls in deprived areas six times more likely than girls in affluent areas to be injured in violence?
Professor Jonathan Shepherd describes discoveries from the Violence Society Group’s investigations into the issue and reveals how alcohol plays a role Read more »
There is no proven safe amount of alcohol in pregnancy. No Alcohol, No Risk
Sandra Butcher reminds us to take a more sober view of findings of the recent research into the effects of alcohol on pregnancy Read more »
By tackling cheap off-trade alcohol, we can support pubs AND reduce harmful consumption
New report shows that there is a common ground between the pub trade and public health advocates Read more »
Club Soda hosts the first-ever Mindful Drinking Festival
Inaugural event held as part of a movement to get people to be comfortable with not drinking alcohol Read more »
Alcohol liver disease – crisis on the horizon
We need to tackle the rising levels of mortality cause by alcoholic liver disease – and fast, warns Professor Roger Williams Read more »
The First WHO Forum on Alcohol, Drugs and Addictive Behaviours
This inaugural public health debate illuminates challenges and opportunities, says Lucy Westerman Read more »
Might innovative taxes on alcohol and other unhealthy commodity products help fund the NHS?
Social Policy scholars from the University of Edinburgh ask whether the public is willing to spend more in so-called ‘sin taxes’ in order to fund its national health service Read more »
Assessing the potential effect of placing health messages on alcohol products: It’s too early to tell
Louise Hassan’s project hopes to feed into the policy debate surrounding whether or not alcohol warning labels should be introduced Read more »
Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular disease – the deeper you go, the more you know
A blogpost based on BMJ paper “Association between clinically recorded alcohol consumption and initial presentation of 12 cardiovascular diseases: population based cohort study using linked health records” Read more »
What is really in your drink?
Eurocare welcomes the European Commission’s report recognising a need for better alcohol labelling. But does it go far enough? Read more »
Cheap cider and an alcohol duty system that incentivises harmful practice
Away from the “cheap political posturing”, policymakers’ decisions on alcohol taxes have real health consequences for people’s lives, says researcher Dr John Holmes Read more »
Murder in a can
Mike Nicholas of Thames Reach writes of the destructive effect of high-strength alcohol on the lives of homeless rough sleepers Read more »
Communicating the health harms of alcohol to the public
As Alcohol Awareness Week 2016 begins, Professor Sir Ian Gilmore, chair of the Alcohol Health Alliance and special advisor on alcohol to the RCP, explains what the government should do to communicate the harms associated with alcohol to the public Read more »
Tackling obesity – parallels with alcohol
Inaction on obesity and alcohol is reflected in the health of the nation. On World Obesity Day, Vanessa Hebditch observes striking similarities in the UK Government’s attitude to both indicators Read more »
Bang per buck – a recent history of white cider
As the Alcohol Health Alliance releases a report showing that 7.5 litres of high-strength white cider can be bought for the price of a cinema ticket, Dr Peter Rice paints a potted recent account of the drink through a medical lens Read more »
Alcohol misuse is ‘everybody’s business’
Harm from alcohol is all too often experienced beyond the individual drinker, says Katherine Brown Read more »
The effect of alcohol on the probability of conception
Smriti Bhatta argues that abstaining from alcohol during the period of fecundability is perhaps the ‘wisest choice’ for expectant mothers Read more »
Alcohol Stories – Exploring accounts and practices of alcohol use, suicide and self-harm
How much of an influence does alcohol have on suicides? Dr Amy Chandler addresses the need for more research on the issue Read more »
Helping local areas reduce the impact of alcohol harm
The CLeaR self-assessment for alcohol tool, is a new evidence-based approach designed to help “kick-start local conversations between key stakeholders about how to improve the wide range of outcomes affected by harmful drinking”, says Kevin Fenton Read more »
Alcohol, the ‘elephant in the room’
Journalist Phil Cain’s new book attempts to distil the essence of our relationship with alcohol Read more »
Does drink really make you happy?
We need to work out which policies best balance alcohol’s pleasures against its harms, writes Dr Ben Baumberg Geiger Read more »
The ‘Baby Boomer’ effect of increased alcohol-related harm
Older people represent an increasing proportion of alcohol-related hospital admissions, argues Dr Tony Rao Read more »
Alcohol and pregnancy… a cross-cultural perspective
In January 2016 the UK Chief Medical Officer (CMO) published new recommendations on drinking guidelines, which advised that pregnant women should avoid alcohol altogether. But what can we learn from other countries that have endorsed such a recommendation, asks Lisa Schölin Read more »