Alcohol consumption is a safety concern during the global pandemic.
By Carrie MacMillan
From Zoom happy hours to “wine o’clock” memes (click here) floating around on social media, the pressure to grab a drink to take an edge off your pandemic anxiety can sometimes feel strong. Not being able to visit friends or enjoy many out-of-home activities leaves some people feeling like they don’t have much else to do, so why not enjoy a glass of wine—or two or three?
Indeed, data from Nielsen indicates people are drinking more. For the week ending May 2, total alcohol sales in the U.S. were up by more than 32% compared to the same week one year ago. These figures have some medical experts worried.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have issued communications warning people to avoid excessive drinking, saying it may increase COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Beyond that, alcohol consumption is already a major public health problem in the U.S., the NIAAA says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2006 to 2010, "excessive alcohol use “ was responsible for an annual average of 88,000 death, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20 to 64 years.” And studies have linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of breast and other cancers....
From Zoom happy hours to “wine o’clock” memes (click here) floating around on social media, the pressure to grab a drink to take an edge off your pandemic anxiety can sometimes feel strong. Not being able to visit friends or enjoy many out-of-home activities leaves some people feeling like they don’t have much else to do, so why not enjoy a glass of wine—or two or three?
Indeed, data from Nielsen indicates people are drinking more. For the week ending May 2, total alcohol sales in the U.S. were up by more than 32% compared to the same week one year ago. These figures have some medical experts worried.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have issued communications warning people to avoid excessive drinking, saying it may increase COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. Beyond that, alcohol consumption is already a major public health problem in the U.S., the NIAAA says. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), from 2006 to 2010, "excessive alcohol use “ was responsible for an annual average of 88,000 death, including 1 in 10 deaths among working-age adults aged 20 to 64 years.” And studies have linked alcohol consumption to an increased risk of breast and other cancers....
From "The Lancet;"
August 20, 2020
By Jin Un Kim, Amir Majid.Rebekah Judge, Peter Crook, Rooshi Nathwani, Nowlan Selvapatt, James Lovendoski. Pinelopi Manousou, Mark Thursz, Ameet Dhar. Heather Lewis, Nikhil Vergis and Maud Lemoine
...69 (38%) patients were classified as abstinent before lockdown, (click here) with a mean abstinence period of 19·5 months (SD 22). Of this subgroup, 12 (17%) relapsed during lockdown. Mean AUDIT score within the relapse group at the time of our survey was 15·7 (SD 9·6), representing a 226% mean increase from before lockdown, with a mean weekly consumption of 48·8 units (SD 63) during lockdown. Of the 113 individuals who were previously drinking before the lockdown, 14 (12%) became newly abstinent since the beginning of lockdown.
Among all participants, 55 (30%) had either a virtual or face-to-face contact with the clinic during lockdown;...
