Even one glass of wine a day raises cancer risk

No amount of alcohol can be called ‘safe’ says NHS chief

ONE glass of wine a day could put you in danger of cancer and other illnesses in later life, the UK’s most senior health advisers have warned.

In the biggest shake-up of alcohol advice in 30 years, the new official line is there is no safe level of drinking.

The guidelines have been overhauled in light of new evidence that even small amounts of alcohol greatly increase the risk of cancer.

The new policy, backed by the UK’s chief medical officers, including Dr Catherine Calderwood i n Scotland, will target middle- class, middle-aged people who drink several times a week on the assumption they are not harming themselves.

Research suggests that drinking regularly – even at low levels – can raise the risk of strokes, heart attacks and liver disease. The key recommendations are:

Men should slash their weekly intake to 14 units a week, or seven pints or seven glasses of wine, bringing them in line with women

Pregnant women should not drink at all as they may be harming the baby, which is the existing guidance in Scotland

Everyone should have ‘several’ days off a week – at least two to three – to let their livers recover

Red wine, or any other alcohol, probably does not protect the heart

Pace yourself by drinking slowly, with food, and alternate alcohol with glasses of water

Do not binge drink by saving up the 14 units for one heavy night out a week

Previous advice in Scotland was that men should not drink more than two to three units a day, up to a maximum of 21 units a week, while women were restricted to one or two units daily, up to 14 a week.

Now the sexes are on an equal footing, with one unit counting as less than half a glass of wine, half a pint, or a measure of spirits. It fol- lows new evidence which links even small amounts of alcohol to eight different types of cancer. They i nclude breast cancer – and research has found that only one glass of wine a day can raise a woman’s risk by 13 per cent.

Other cancers of which drinkers are at risk include bowel, liver, oesophagus, larynx, upper throat and mouth.

Research also shows that drinking small amounts, regularly, for ten or 20 years raises the risk of liver disease, heart attacks and strokes.

A review of the drinking guidelines was launched in 2012 over concerns that they were too lenient and unsafe. The expert group included Dr Calderwood, Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, and the chief medical officers for Wales and Northern Ireland. They have spent the past three years examining more than 80 studies on the scientific evidence of alcohol harm.

The new guidance will bring the rest of the UK in line with Scotland, in warning that there is no ‘safe limit’ to drink during preg- nancy and that the best advice is not to drink at all.

Professor Derek Bell, president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, welcomed the new policy, saying: ‘The evidence is clear that excessive consumption of alcohol can cause serious health problems and this has wide-ranging implications for individuals, their families and communities and the health and social services.’

Eric Carlin, director of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems, said: ‘The case is made yet again for sustained action to reduce alcohol harm across the Scottish population, which causes 20 deaths every week.’

‘It causes serious health problems’