Alcohol consumption and brain health
BMJ 2017; 357 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j2645 (Published 06 June 2017) Cite this as: BMJ 2017;357:j2645
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I'm all for getting a grip on our nation's alcohol consumption but is it wishful thinking to expect the consumer to know what a 'unit' of alcohol looks like? How easy is it for individuals to track their weekly consumption? To get a true idea we would all need to be using an app or have a pen & paper to hand - all of which detract from why we are having a drink in the first place. Are the health messages we are putting out really in a format for us to act on? Perhaps the future won't be one in which we wear activity trackers through choice but personal health monitors linked in to our GP will be mandatory?
Competing interests: No competing interests
For too long our attitude towards alcohol has been too strongly influenced by wishful thinking and wilful blindness - and now it seems, by past 'fake news' that there exists a J-shaped curve promising health benefits from moderate consumption. Given that most of us can no longer expect disease to end life before the mists of dementia cloud our thoughts, we need to better understand and better publicise the risk of brain injury from lifestyle social drinking. Perhaps something similar to a Fact Box [1], currently produced by AOK for a range of other healthcare concerns, presenting the risks of 'responsible drinking' should be prominently displayed on all barrels, bottles & cans.
1. Gigerenzer G, Kolpatzik K. How new fact boxes are explaining medical risk to millions. BMJ 2017;357:j2460.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Re: Alcohol consumption and brain health
At last, a research paper and an Editorial providing objective, unemotive and incredibly helpful data and conclusions in relation to alcohol intake and risk of brain damage. The impact of the study should be enormous but unfortunately years of experience working in the field of Addiction Medicine suggest that even clinicians in the field will find ways to discount the importance of this study. Australia has had 20 gm per day of alcohol as a maximum safe level for a number of years as recommended by the NHMRC Guidelines on Alcohol Use. This document which recommended the reduction in total consumption per week was met with significant resistance at first but it was based on evidence. This new work adds to the need for all who work in this specialty area to accept the reality that regular intake alters the brain and in so doing alters the patient's capacity to make the rational decisions they need to make to reduce intake.
The Editorial on the paper is a classic academic summary with real impact. An exciting issue of the Journal.
Competing interests: No competing interests