Excessive drinking is destroying our health

People who sink half a bottle to a bottle of wine a day are at risk of developing serious health problems, a director of public health has warned.

Liver and heart disease and mouth and throat cancers are just some of the side effects of prolonged excessive drinking, says Dr Adrian Dawson, director of public health for Bournemouth and Poole Primary Care Trust.

The government recommends women consume a maximum of two to three units of alcohol a day and men three to four.

But with one large glass of white wine, a pint of larger or cider containing three alcohol units, many people are regularly exceeding the limit and putting themselves at risk of long-term illnesses.

Dr Dawson said young people tend to binge drink and this can lead to more people ending up in A&E departments through injury or because they are vulnerable.

"It's happening all over the country and it's happening here as well."

He said another worrying group was those aged in their late 30s and early 40s.

"They get to the stage where it is normal to drink half a bottle to a bottle of wine a night.

"People in this category start to develop significant problems if they drink like that for several years.

"It will creep up on them and quite often they won't know until it is too late.

"It can lead to significant damage to the liver.

"They start getting health problems such as high blood pressure, including a risk of heart disease and liver disease.

"Once someone reaches double the recommended limit they are drinking a large amount of alcohol and this could lead to serious health problems.

"We are seeing more people coming in with liver disease.

"These are not people who are homeless and these are not the old TV caricature - these are people who would not class themselves as alcoholics but are drinking a lot of alcohol over a substantial period of time.

"We are also getting more people coming in with throat and mouth cancers from consuming too much alcohol.

"Over the past five to six years we have seen Britain drinking more and now we are seeing admissions to hospital going up for young people and admissions to hospital going up for 40 to 45-year-olds.

"Many have been drinking heavily for 10 or 15 years and come into hospital with problems with their pancreas and liver."

He urged people to drink sensibly and open their eyes to how much they are drinking.

The government has launched a tipple guide to help people keeps tabs on how much alcohol they are drinking.

It is part of the Department of Health's latest campaign: Alcohol, know your limits.

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