Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is supporting the Government’s Know Your Limits campaign, which is encouraging people across the country to take stock of how much they are drinking by keeping a drink diary for the week.
Over a quarter of the population in England (10 million adults) drink above the guidelines for lower risk drinking. Of these, 2.6 million adults (8% of men and 6% of women) regularly drink at higher risk levels.
The Chief Medical Officer's guidelines on lower-risk drinking recommend men do not drink more than 3-4 units daily (drinking about two pints or two cans of normal-strength lager or beer on a regular basis) and women do not drink more than 2-3 units daily (regularly drinking about a large glass of wine or three single measures of spirits).
Drinking above these levels can increase your risk of heart disease, breast cancer, liver disease, stroke and other diseases. Drinking above lower-risk guidelines can also impact on your ability to get a good night’s sleep and affect your general day-to-day health.
Dr Arun Dhandayudham, Clinical Director for Northamptonshire Drug and Alcohol services said:
“We’re behind the Know Your Limits campaign because alcohol is one of the leading causes of health problems in Northamptonshire. It’s so easy to get into a routine of regular drinking which is above the lower-risk guidelines, without realising you might be putting your health at risk. For example, if a man regularly drinks a couple of pints of beer most days of the week, he is drinking above the lower-risk guidelines.
"Keeping a drink diary for a week is easy, and can really make you stop and think about whether you ought to be cutting back – and there’s no better time than Alcohol Awareness Week to give it a go.”
For further information visit www.nhs.uk/units
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