UK’s new alcohol guidelines warn of increased cancer risk

At least, if tough new guidelines on drinking just announced by the UK’s chief medical officers are anything to go by.

“The reason we’ve done this is that the science had progressed and advice needed updating”, Ms Davies added.

The U.S. Guidelines recommend that women should not exceed one standard drink per day and men should no more than two.

The guidance said pregnant women should avoid alcohol altogether as there is no evidence for a “safe” drinking level. Pregnant women should not drink at all. This rises to 126 women for those who drink 14 units or less per week, and 153 women for those who drink 14 to 35 units a week.

At higher levels, there is an increased danger of developing bowel and liver cancer.

The guidelines, based on findings of research worldwide, aim to decrease the risk of mortality from cancers and other diseases.

But the government is warning against “saving up” these 14 units for one or two days in the week, instead advising to spread them over three or more days with alcohol-free days in between. But, when you delve into the evidence, then people will take it on board.

Short-term risks can be avoided by limiting the amount of alcohol consumed on any one occasion, drinking more slowly, drinking with food and alternating alcoholic drinks with water.

The UK coronary heart disease premature death rate is 41 deaths per 100,000 people, but in Portsmouth this stands at 50 per 100,000.

Alcohol guidelines for men have been brought down to the same level as for women – 14 units of alcohol each week, or six pints of beer – which could lower the risk of illnesses such as liver disease and cancer.

Experts also recommended spreading the weekly allowance over the week and warned against saving them up and using them all at once.

The recommendations say that even moderate drinking is linked to “increased risk of breast cancer, violence, drowning, and injuries from falls and motor vehicle crashes”.

“The goal of these new guidelines is to provide the public with the latest accurate information on how they can reduce health risks from alcohol, if they choose to drink”, Dr. Niamh Fitzgerald, a professor of alcohol studies at the University of Stirling, told the BBC.

No level of drinking is safe, according to the first full new alcohol guildelines to be issued in two decades.

How many units are in our favourite alcoholic drinks?

The more you drink the greater your risk. The recommendations say “the risk of harm to the baby is likely to be low if a woman has drunk only small amounts of alcohol before she knew she was pregnant or during pregnancy”.