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Wednesday, April 19, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Is alcohol increasing your health risks?
By Dr. Kim Hapke
Correspondent
April is Alcohol
Awareness Month and a good
time to examine the possible
effects that alcohol may be
having in our lives.
Most people are aware
that alcohol can be detrimen-
tal to their health. Many also
have encountered people in
their lives who are dependent
on alcohol which is a serious
health condition. Yet 9 of 10
people who drink excessively
are not alcohol-dependent.
In between low-risk
drinkers and alcohol depen-
dence there are many people
whose drinking puts them at
increased risk of harm from
alcohol use.
As individual awareness
of the harm of excess alco-
hol seems high, the numbers
of what alcohol is still doing
on a societal level are surpris-
ing. In the U.S. the monetary
cost of excessive alcohol use
reached $249 billion in 2010.
These costs are due to things
like loss of workplace pro-
ductivity, healthcare costs,
collisions and criminal justice
costs. But tracking money is
a cold way to look at a situ-
ation that has a tragic human
cost. The Center for Disease
Control states that from 2006-
2010, excessive alcohol use
accounted for nearly one in
10 deaths among U.S. adults
aged 20-64. And excessive
drinking does not just take a
few years off; it shortened the
life of those who died by an
average of 30 years.
So, what constitutes low-
risk use of alcohol? Adult
male limits are no more
than four drinks a day and
no more than 14 drinks a
week. Neither amount can be
exceeded in a week to consti-
tute low risk. For women and
adults over 65 the limits are
no more than three drinks a
day and no more than seven
drinks in a week. Low risk
intake can still be a problem
if it is combined with certain
medications, or if one suf-
fers from certain health con-
ditions. Any intake by those
under 21 or pregnant women
is considered excessive.
Let’s also increase aware-
ness of what constitutes a
drink: One drink is 12 ounces
of regular beer, 5 ounces of
wine and 1.5 ounces of dis-
tilled spirits. Be aware that
regular beer is about 5 percent
alcohol. Some brews have
over 11 percent, putting their
alcohol content closer to that
of wine. With wine, please
note large wine glasses hold
much more than 5 ounces.
In fact, 5 ounces will look
skimpy in a big glass, and
your server will pour more to
keep you happy.
One in three adults fall
into a higher risk intake cate-
gory. At this level of drinking
we cannot say for each person
that alcohol is an issue but we
can ask, is it a problem?
One pattern of risk is
to exceed the daily high
amount on a sporadic basis,
often called binge drinking.
Dangerous health events like
alcohol poisoning can hap-
pen in situations when a lot
of alcohol is imbibed in a
short amount of time. Risk
of injuries, motor vehicle
crashes, violence, and sui-
cide are seriously increased
under the influence of alco-
hol. Exceeding daily amounts
means changes in judgment
and coordination that are
inherently risky.
Many of the risks with
alcohol occur at lower doses
taken over a longer period
of time. Long-term health
issues that can result include
an increased risk of liver dis-
ease, heart disease, stroke,
bleeding from the stomach,
increased incidence of sexu-
ally transmitted infections
and several types of cancer
including breast, colon and
liver cancer.
These risks are harder
to determine and involve
individual biochemical and
genetic factors as well as
lifestyle factors. Regularly
seeing your physician and
getting basic lab work done
as well as being aware of
how alcohol makes you feel
and being open to input from
those closest to you can give
you clues as to whether drink-
ing is creating issues for your
health.
It is common to con-
sciously or unconsciously
self-medicate with alcohol.
Depression, pain and sleep
issues seem at least tempo-
rarily helped by a drink. In
reality however, each of these
issues can be worsened by
alcohol.
Alcohol is a central ner-
vous system depressant and
can create or exacerbate
depression. Alcohol com-
bined with pain medication
can increase sedation or risk
of bleeding, and alcohol
exacerbates the sleep issues
common with chronic pain.
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Alcohol may help people fall
asleep faster but the quality of
sleep is worse. Alcohol inter-
feres with REM sleep and can
affect breathing, worsening
or creating episodes of sleep
apnea.
Know that alcohol is not
the best coping strategy for
these conditions and look
for healthier pain, mood
and stress management
techniques.
A healthy relationship
with alcohol will look dif-
ferent depending on the
individual. Understanding
the risks inherent in certain
intake amounts as well as
growing awareness of one’s
bodily response to alcohol
gives information from which
to make better choices for
health.
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