‘Ignore alcohol limit warning at your peril’

Drinkers who ignore UK alcohol consumption guidelines could be cutting years off their lives, according to new research.

An analysis of nearly 600,000 people found those drinking more than 100g of alcohol every week – around five 175ml glasses of wine or pints of beer – were at an increased risk of early death. Drinking more alcohol was also linked with a greater chance of suffering a stroke, heart failure, and a fatal aneurysm, according to the study published in journal the Lancet.

The findings support recently lowered guidelines in the UK, which recommend that both men and women should not drink more than 14 units or 112g of pure alcohol in a week.

This equates to around six pints of 4% strength beer or six 175ml of 13% wine.

Lead author, Dr Angela Wood, of the University of Cambridge, said: “If you already drink alcohol, drinking less may help you live longer and lower your risk of several cardiovascular conditions.”

The study analysed 599,912 current drinkers in 19 countries, none of whom had a known history of cardiovascular disease, and found an increase in glasses all causes of death when more than 100g of alcohol was consumed every week.

A 40-year-old regularly drinking between 200g and 350g of alcohol per week – about 10 to 18 glasses of wine or pints of beer – had a lower life expectancy of around one to two years, researchers found.

Those exceeding 350g of alcohol every week could shed four to five years off their life. While the study also found alcohol consumption was linked to a lower risk of non-fatal heart attacks, experts said “on balance” there are no health benefits from drinking.

The authors of the study said recommended alcohol limits should be lowered to around 100g or 12.5 units per week in many countries. UK guidelines were changed in 2016 to 14 units every week for men and women, lower than the limits in Italy, Portugal and Spain.