On regular drinking
New weekly guideline [this applies for people who drink regularly or frequently i.e. most
weeks].
The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline for both men and women is that:

• You are safest not to drink regularly more than 14 units per week, to keep health
risks from drinking alcohol to a low level.
• If you do drink as much as 14 units per week, it is best to spread this evenly over
3 days or more.
If you have one or two heavy drinking sessions, you increase
your risks of death from long term illnesses and from accidents and injuries.

• The risk of developing a range of illnesses (including, for example, cancers of
the mouth, throat and breast) increases with any amount you drink on a regular
basis.
• If you wish to cut down the amount you’re drinking, a good way to help achieve
this is to have several drink-free days each week.

On single drinking episodes [this applies for drinking on any single occasion, not regular
drinking, which is covered by the weekly guideline].
The Chief Medical Officers advise men and women who wish to keep their short
term health risks from a single drinking occasion to a low level that they can reduce
these risks by:
• limiting the total amount of alcohol you drink on any occasion;
• drinking more slowly, drinking with food, and alternating with water;
• avoiding risky places and activities, making sure you have people you know
around, and ensuring you can get home safely.

The sorts of things that are more likely to happen if you don’t judge the risks from
how you drink correctly can include: accidents resulting in injury (causing death in
some cases), misjudging risky situations, and losing self-control.

These risks can arise for people drinking within the weekly guidelines for regular
drinking, if they drink too much or too quickly on a single occasion; and for people
who drink at higher levels, whether regularly or infrequently.

Some groups of people are likely to be affected more by alcohol and should be more
careful of their level of drinking on any one occasion:
• young adults
• older people
• those with low body weight
• those with other health problems
• those on medicines or other drugs.

As well as the risk of accident and injury, drinking alcohol regularly is linked to long
term risks such as heart disease, cancer, liver disease, and epilepsy.

On pregnancy and drinking
The Chief Medical Officers’ guideline is that:

• If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the safest approach is not to drink
alcohol at all, to keep risks to your baby to a minimum.

• Drinking in pregnancy can lead to long-term harm to the baby, with the more you
drink the greater the risk.

Most women either do not drink alcohol (19%) or stop drinking during pregnancy
(40%).
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.

Women who find out they are pregnant after already having drunk during early
pregnancy, should avoid further drinking, but should be aware that it is unlikely in
most cases that their baby has been affected.
If you are worried about how much
you have been drinking when pregnant, talk to your doctor or midwife.

TO NOTE- THESE ARE DRAFT ONLY and is currently undergoing CONSULTATION.

G MOHAN.

What is a unit of alcohol? -REFER FULL ARTICLE BY MR BADRINATH-26TH FEB 2013.

One unit of alcohol is 10 ml (1 cl) by volume, or 8 g by weight, of pure alcohol.

For example: One unit of alcohol equals
1. half a pint of ordinary strength beer or lager.
2. 25 mls of spirits (40% alcohol by volume)
3. 50 mls of fortified wine such as sherry or port (20% alcohol by volume).

A small glass (125 ml) of ordinary strength wine (12% alcohol by volume) and 35 mls of spirits (40% alcohol by volume) both count as 1.5 units each

Always check the strength. Some wines and beers may be stronger and the units consumed may be more.
Three pints of beer, three times per week, is at least 18-20 units per week. That is nearly the upper weekly safe limit for a man. However, each drinking session of three pints is at least six units, which is more than the safe limit advised for any one day. Another example: a 750 ml bottle of 12% wine contains nine units. If you drink two bottles of 12% wine over a week, that is 18 units. This is above the upper safe limit for a woman.