Tag: womens health

Posted on

Alcohol and diabetes

Drinking alcohol can contribute to the conditions that cause diabetes

There are three main ways drinking alcohol to excess can be a factor in causing diabetes:

1.Heavy drinking can reduce the body’s sensitivity to insulin, which can trigger type 2 diabetes (7).
2.Diabetes is a common side effect of chronic pancreatitis, which is overwhelmingly caused by heavy drinking.
3.Alcohol contains a huge amount of calories – one pint of lager can be equivalent to a slice of pizza. So drinking can also increase your chance of becoming overweight and your risk of developing type 2 diabetes (8).

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/

Posted on

Does alcohol cause breast cancer?

We talk to our Chief Medical Advisor, Professor Paul Wallace to find out the facts about alcohol and breast cancer.

When asked to name the main health effects of drinking too much alcohol, many people will first say liver disease. Others will mention heart disease. Some will name mental health issues. Cancers are often low down on the public’s alcohol effects list.

But they shouldn’t be – especially breast cancer.

It is clear from a number of large scale studies that there is a link between alcohol consumption and cancer. Globally, one in five (21.6%) of all alcohol-related deaths are due to cancer. (1) And breast cancer is the most common cancer among women (2) and second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer death in women. (3)

Professor Paul Wallace, Drinkaware’s Chief Medical Advisor, believes that more people should know that alcohol can increase women’s risk of getting breast cancer.

“My impression is that my patients don’t know about the link between alcohol and breast cancer any more than they do about the association between alcohol and fertility. We can do more to increase awareness.”

We spoke to Professor Wallace to get the facts about alcohol and breast cancer and learnt that:

  • There is a lot of evidence to suggest that alcohol increases the risk of developing breast cancer.
  • Drinking alcohol does not mean you will get breast cancer, it means your risk of developing it will be increased.
  • How much you drink over your lifetime is what increases the risk.

Although alcohol does increase the risk, taken with all the other factors, its contribution to overall causation of breast cancer is estimated to be about 4%. The advice is that if you do regularly drink it should be within the government’s lower risk guidelines.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/

Posted on

Alcohol and mental health

4. Alcohol is linked to suicide, self-harm and psychosis

Alcohol can make people lose their inhibitions and behave impulsively, so it can lead to actions they might not otherwise have taken – including self-harm and suicide (3).

According to the NHS in Scotland, more than half of people who ended up in hospital because they’d deliberately injured themselves said they’ve drunk alcohol immediately before or while doing it.  27% of men and 19% of women gave alcohol as the reason for self-harming (4).

Extreme levels of drinking (such as more than 30 units per day for several weeks) can occasionally cause ‘psychosis’. It’s a severe mental illness where hallucinations and delusions of persecution develop. Psychotic symptoms can also occur when very heavy drinkers suddenly stop drinking and develop a condition known as ‘delirium tremens’ – symptoms include body tremors and confusion.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/

Posted on

Alcohol and mental health

3. Alcohol depression = a vicious cycle

If you drink heavily and regularly you’re likely to develop some symptoms of depression. It’s that good old brain chemistry at work again. Regular drinking lowers the levels of serotonin in your brain – a chemical that helps to regulate your mood.

In Britain, people who experience anxiety or depression are twice as likely to be heavy or problem drinkers. For some people, the anxiety or depression came first and they’ve reached for alcohol to try to relieve it. For others, drinking came first, so it may be a root cause of their anxieties (2).

Drinking heavily can also affect your relationships with your partner, family and friends. It can impact on your performance at work. These issues can also contribute to depression.

If you use drink to try and improve your mood or mask your depression, you may be starting a vicious cycle…

Warning signs that alcohol is affecting your mood include:

How does alcohol affect your sleep? Tips for a restful night

Four ways to help prevent alcohol affecting your mood

1.    Use exercise and relaxation to tackle stress instead of alcohol.
2.    Learn breathing techniques to try when you feel anxious.
3.    Talk to someone about your worries. Don’t try and mask them with alcohol.
4.    Always be aware of why you’re drinking. Don’t assume it will make a bad feeling go away, it’s more likely to exaggerate it.

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/