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Binge drinking

Published by Bupa's health information team, healthinfo@bupa.com, April 2008

Drinking has been a part of British culture for hundreds of years. But in recent times there are worries that so-called "binge" drinking is beginning to cause problems for our society. Although Department of Health guidelines recommend a maximum alcohol intake of three to four units per day for men and two to three units for women, 5.9 million of us in the UK admit that we sometimes drink more than twice that amount.

According to the Institute of Alcohol Studies, there is a growing culture of intoxication among young people. In one UK study, 36 percent of men and 27 percent of women aged 16 to 24 said they had been binge drinking at least once in the previous week.

Some also claim the youth market is being specifically targeted with drinks designed to make people drunk as quickly as possible.

What is binge drinking?

There is no strict medical definition of what binge drinking is. However, The Office of National Statistics defines heavy drinking as eight or more units of alcohol per day for men, and six or more for women. Many experts and institutions now use this as a rule-of-thumb definition of binge drinking.

According to Alcohol Concern, a national agency that aims to reduce alcohol-related harm in the UK, this amount of alcohol can be reasonably expected to get you intoxicated and increase your risk of injury.

Short-term risks of binge drinking

As any emergency worker will tell you, binge drinking is accompanied by countless short-term risks.

Drinking very large amounts of alcohol suppresses activity in the areas of your brain that control breathing and levels of consciousness. It can make you pass out or enter a coma - sometimes it can even lead to death. If someone is sick while unconscious, he or she might choke.

Binge drinking has also been associated with a number of medical problems.

• High blood pressure. The more you drink, the more your risk of high blood pressure rises. But there's evidence that binge drinking is especially associated with high blood pressure.
• Heart disease. Binge drinking has been linked to an increased risk of heart attack, heart failure (weakened heart muscle), and atrial fibrillation.
• Stroke. High blood pressure and atrial fibrillation make strokes more likely in binge drinkers.
• Gastritis and pancreatitis. Repeated binging can lead to gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) and pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas).
• Pregnancy complications. Binge drinking, especially in the early stages of pregnancy, increases the risk of miscarriage or can affect the baby's development.
• Brain damage. Some studies suggest that repeated binge drinking can shrink areas of your brain to do with memory and learning. Other research suggests that high doses of alcohol can kill brain cells.

Apart from these serious health risks, binge drinking causes significant changes in behaviour.

• Unsafe sex. In one survey of 16 to 24 year olds, 40 percent of young people said they were more likely to have casual sex after drinking alcohol. Although there is no explicit link between binge drinking and sex, there is probably a connection, because large amounts of alcohol lead to a loss of inhibitions.
• Time off work. It is estimated that hangovers cost employers £2 billion in wages each year.
• Accidents. Alcohol plays a part in about 20 to 30 percent of all accidents. One third of pedestrians killed on the roads are over the legal drink-drive limit.
• Violence. In 41 percent of contact crime, such as robbery, wounding and assault, the offender has been drinking.
• Antisocial behaviour. In a survey of 16 to 24 year olds, seven out of 10 young people said they had witnessed a fight after people had been drinking.

Long-term risks of drinking

Binge drinking is particularly common among young people, but risky drinking behaviour sometimes continues into middle age . If you continue to drink excessively over a long period of time, it can lead to serious health problems, including:

• cirrhosis of the liver - some studies estimate that eight to 30 percent of problem drinkers develop this life-threatening condition
• mental illness - including depression, amnesia and insomnia
• certain forms of cancer - including cancer of the liver, mouth and oesophagus

How to avoid binge drinking

There are a number of steps you can take to try and cut down on binge drinking.

• Alternate alcoholic drinks with soft drinks, and drink water before you go out so that you are less thirsty.
• Replace your usual drink with one that contains less alcohol.
• Know what a unit is and how many units are in your drinks.
• Before you go out, set yourself a limit of three or four units (men) or two or three units (women) for any one occasion.
• If you know you always drink a lot with certain friends, try to go out with them less often.
• Eat before you go out or while you are drinking - this slows down alcohol absorption.
• Take a set amount of money with you and leave your cards at home.
• Don't get involved in rounds, as they encourage everyone to drink at the same rate as the fastest drinker.

Worried about your drinking?

If you are concerned that you can't control your drinking, talk to your GP. He or she can give you advice on how to stop or cut down, and can also suggest other sources of support, such as counselling. Alternatively, you could contact your local alcohol advice centre - the Alcohol Concern website (see below) has a directory of alcohol advice centres in the UK.

Further information

• Alcohol Concern
  www.alcoholconcern.org.uk
• Down Your Drink
  www.downyourdrink.org.uk
• Alcoholics Anonymous
  0845 769 7555
  www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk

Related information

• Alcohol - how it affects you
• Alcohol and medicines
• Alcohol and pregnancy
• Alcohol: mind and body
• Sensible drinking - factsheet

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