EU Needs Standardized Focus on Alcohol Consumption Risks

There is a growing problem in a number of European countries: citizens are regularly consuming large amounts of alcohol and their health is suffering as a result. A recent Medical News Today report suggests that severe diseases are growing at an alarming rate, affecting those at an increasingly younger rate than in the past.

A number of policies implemented in recent years have proven to be unsuccessful in addressing health issues linked with alcohol across Europe and two liver experts discussed a range of practical solutions that can combat alcohol-related illness and death.

As liver disease is a main health burden attributable to alcohol and Europe has the highest rate of alcohol consumption in the world, consumers there are at a heightened risk. In fact, one in 15 adults already suffers from serious health conditions due to alcohol consumption. Another one in five European adults report a heavy drinking episode at least once a week.

There is also an increasing number of liver deaths resulting from daily or near-daily heavy drinking. For individuals, daily drinking carries more than twice the risk of liver damage as compared with intermittent drinking that occurs once or twice per week. If an individual consumes less than two standard bottles of wine a week, the risk of liver disease becomes significant.

Dr. Nick Sheron with the University of Southampton recommends a standardization of alcohol measures across the European Union in order to evaluate the risks effectively. There is still a widespread misunderstanding among consumers of what comprises a unit of alcohol, which makes it a challenge for consumers to completely understand their risks.