Sir, – In response to William Reville's column "Is there such a thing as a safe dosage of alcohol?" (March 15th), I would like to highlight recent evidence that shows there are virtually no health benefits to be gained from drinking alcohol.
Earlier this year evidence from a health survey for England published in the British Medical Journal found that if there are any benefits from drinking alcohol in very modest amounts, they are limited to women aged 65 or more.
Even that association is, at best, modest, according to the research.
As a physician who specialises in liver disease, it is worth saying that there is no safe level to drink. But that’s not to say that people shouldn’t drink or that I am advocating prohibition.
There are low-risk levels that should be observed, which are 17 units of alcohol per week for men and 11 units for women. Research shows that about 80 per cent of Irish adults consume alcohol and more than half of those are classified as drinking harmfully, or more than the recommended intake. Almost 10 per cent of those who consume alcohol are dependent– and this rises to 15 per cent among 18-24 year olds.
Sadly high-risk drinking has become the norm for many adults of all ages and we are seeing the harm to their health it is causing in hospitals and healthcare services all over Ireland. The number of people dying from cirrhosis of the liver has doubled here, among both men and women, and alcohol is an important factor in breast cancer in women and in cancers of the oesophagus and mouth.
The draft Public Health (Alcohol) Bill 2015 which is currently before the Oireachtas offers us as a nation an opportunity to effectively begin to reduce the harm being caused to virtually every family by excessive alcohol consumption. It can save lives and put us on a safe path for drinking alcohol in Ireland. – Yours, etc,
Prof FRANK MURRAY,
President,
Royal College of Physicians
of Ireland;
Chairman ,
Alcohol Health
Alliance Ireland,
Kildare Street,
Dublin 2.