Did anybody see the Panaroma about binge drinking last night?

[Orangelight23]

Real eye opener for me. Women in their 30s being diagnosed with liver disease. I must admit I have myself been drawn into wine culture and drinking wine to relax.

It's made me have a real think about my alcohol intake to be honest.

They did this in the programme. 1 in 15 were advised to get more tests. But bear in mind that those that chose to go in, may well have had suspicions that they had damaged their livers.

Obesity and excessive alcohol consumption. Hmmm. There's a pill for that.

The likes of Ozempic and Mounjaro are now being tested as an alcohol reduction drug.

Semaglutides should be given free to anyone who doesn't have the perfect BMI or is drinking more than they want to.

The NHS would save a fortune, but what in the world will UPF and alcohol producers do I say!

Obviously the drug will only work if you want to take it, but still.....

It has been interesting to see on the WLD threads users are reporting less desire for alcohol. Even though I no longer drink I sometimes get cravings, I had none whilst on the WLD. These drugs are in the first clinical trial for dementia, it will be interesting to see if an alcohol dependancy solution is investigated.
Having been obese it can effect others (can you play with your kids? run around etc) but as AA say you won't get knicked for driving under the influence of quality street.
Another question surely is why has alcohol advertising moved away from men? Perhaps the men in lycra are not interested. The gym boys ditto. Other than David Beckham and his Stellar (known as wife beater so a bit silly Mr B). I can't think of other brands targeting middle aged men. Lager lover cards? Nooo.
There are no food benefits to alcohol, no hydration. By Definition it's a depressive but it's in our culture. In twenty years it won't be. It's the drug no one wants to admit is just mouldy vegetation and water. When we first taste it as teenagers it's rank. Sadly later on we convince ourselves it's nice. I even collected wine.
It's personal choice but we should not be 'white washed' into believing it has any health benefits at all. It doesn't.

I drank heavily in my 20/30s more of a binge on a Friday night & well hung over day after Gave up early 40s. May have one drink once in a blue moon. Still have friends who tank a bottle of wine every evening. I still have a fatty liver apparently 🙄 59 now.

I know of friends kids who don’t drink but take drugs!

Its not hard to restrict biscuits, cake and chocolate

I did watch and it was a real eye opener. I am teetotal, just because I don't like the stuff, but in my 20s and 30s I did, so did my fair amount of drinking socially.
I do wonder if the liver damage is down to genetics, I have 2 friends who drink vodka nightly, plus lager along side, both in their 70s, but have no problems. They have been hospitalised both through accidents, broken bones, probably cos they were pissed. But they had blood tests and they were fine. And yet a few glasses of wine a week can ruin other people's liver!

So why single out women of child-bearing age? That's not about the entire health picture, it's explicitly about keeping women in a state of readiness to be impregnated.

Your other point's unrelated to the first. The WHO doesn't sponsor booze advertising.

Semaglutides should be given free to anyone who doesn't have the perfect BMI or is drinking more than they want to.

JHC, no! Great if they manage to isolate the 'craving' effect from the 'hunger' - this is under research, no progress yet - but definitely not right now. Heavy drinking messes with metabolism, leading eventually to malnutrition. Alcoholism often causes severe weight loss. The last thing you need is to make drinkers eat less.

Good question.

I only socialise with people I feel really comfortable and confident with. So I don’t need the crutch. I think being old is a big help in that respect, as I probably only go places people are drinking alcohol once or twice a month.

I just minimise it so it’s insignificant.

I agree with whoever said the failure to say how many units a week the journalist was hitting was a big miss.
I am a modest drinker but I think I would struggle to be teetotal. I could give up but it would be a bit like saying I will never eat chocolate again. I have an app on my phone so I record drinks and I honestly average 20 to 30 units per month. I thought this was OK.
I was concerned about the statement that binging can amplify the damage even if you stay below the overall recommended levels.
A binge is classed as 6 units. That's just over half a bottle of red. Sometimes I will do that and still think that ok if overall I stay low.
It is such a faff that it may be easier to knock it on the head. Certainly I aim to buy a few of the 0% mulled wines to dampen down by red wine enthusiasm in December and then roll on dry January.

Don't get why anyone bothers. Really I don't. I drink half a larger when out usually as someone orders me one. I drive everywhere. Never buy it at home ever. Partner is the same tbh he's horrible when drinking anyways. If owt have a joint but I don't do that anyways lol

For you, maybe, but the fact that millions in this country are overweight and obese would say that, actually, it is quite bloody hard for most of us.

The 'Rain in my Heart' documentary about alcoholism a/v on YouTube, will stay with you forever. The 'Risky Drinking' one also on YouTube is American but more up to date.

greengreyblue
Ah - thank you.

Congratulations, keep going

I assumed I was hitting 14 units a week, but I've just looked and it looks like this:
Friday- cider about 8ish, with dh. 3.4 units
2 x glass white wine- not massive. 5 units.
Saturday- cider 3.4 units
2 x glasses white 5 units
Sunday- cider after tea 3.4
1 x wine 2.5
Sometimes a glass of wine after a late night at work on a Thursday or Wednesday.

None of that makes me drunk or feels a lot, but it's a high number of units. I suppose I could cut the cider, but alcohol is my only vice. Don't even eat meat.

You might feel differently when you’re older. I’m 65, enjoying life, trying to take care of my health and hoping to live (in reasonable health) for another 30 years!

I know the thread has moved on, but I wanted to tell you about what a family friend told me.

The friend is a liver surgeon. He regularly sees people in their 20s and 30s who need liver transplants.

Here's the kicker, they may have a new liver but they don't change their lifestyle so they are back 5 or 10 years later, needing another transplant.

Perhaps some of us are more genetically predisposed to develop liver damage from drinking moderate amounts than others. We don’t know if that will be you or me though… food for thought…

“Never ever being drunk” and only feeling tipsy when you’ve had more than a bottle of wine is actually a really dangerous sign. It means you are drinking so much that your system has built up a significant tolerance to alcohol. That happens with all addictive drugs when we consume them often enough at increasing levels.

I think pregnant women should avoid all alcohol.

One of the biggest problems in the UK is that we’ve developed a culture where a whole bottle of wine is considered “innocuous”. It’s actually a huge amount of alcohol for the liver to process and wasn’t considered remotely normal until recent years.

100%. It's really, really not normal to drink a bottle of wine a weekend.

Do you not think it’s important to give women info about FAS? I think most women who are pregnant and who want to keep their baby, would not want to risk the baby’s health?