Making Best Practice, Every Day Practice
This month’s Back to Basics feature is a useful wallchart showing estimates of alcohol content and calorie counts of typical alcoholic drinks. Many people forget the considerable calorific content of drinks and are unaware of how much pure alcohol they are consuming. Having these facts to hand are useful for the patients we see in practice and for our own healthy living!
This Back to Basics feature is a wallchart describing the functions of a healthy liver – the largest organ in the body. It carries out more than 500 tasks essential for life. This wallchart accompanies details on the new NICE guideline on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
A new NICE guideline provides valuable information on the assessment and management of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) caused by a build-up of fat in the liver.
This month’s Back to Basics feature is a wallchart describing the multiple harms of alcohol misuse in men and women. This could be used during discussions with patients at risk of excess alcohol consumption.
Good hydration is essential for health, especially for people who may not feel thirsty because of ageing or illness. Maintaining good levels of hydration can prevent or help in treating low blood pressure, urinary infections and constipation. It’s so easy to assess hydration status – this useful guide will help.
Alcohol has been identified as one of Public Health England’s seven key priorities. After smoking and obesity, it is the biggest lifestyle risk factor for morbidity and mortality in the UK, accounting for 10% of disease and death. An estimated 9 million adults drink alcohol at levels detrimental to their health, with an estimated 1.6 million portraying signs of alcohol dependence. There is a misconception that drinking alcohol will only have a negative impact on health in those who binge drink or regularly get drunk. However, alcohol harms not only the individual drinker but also society as a whole, costing £21 billion a year, including annual direct costs to the NHS of £3.5 billion.
It has become increasingly clear that many people in this country are putting themselves at risk because they are continuing to drink above their recommended weekly units. Most of these people are not drunk drivers in police cells or antisocial drinkers arriving at A&E departments on Saturday night. They are people who come to see […]
Alcohol Concern is the national charity on alcohol misuse for England and Wales, campaigning for effective alcohol policy and improved services for people whose lives are affected by alcohol-related problems.
It has become increasingly clear that many people in this country are putting themselves at risk because they are continuing to drink above their recommended weekly units. Most of these people are not drunk drivers in police cells or antisocial drinkers arriving at A&E departments on Saturday night. They are people who come to see us at our chronic disease clinics or for treatment for an acute illness. The inclusion of questions about alcohol in NHS Health Checks is the ideal opportunity to discuss the potential risks of excessive drinking, and this special issue explains how we can help patients to choose a healthier approach to alcohol.
We are a nation with an alcohol-induced dichotomy: we have a love affair with alcohol but are increasingly aware of its dangers. The pub has been a cornerstone of our society, providing a source of relationships and artistic imagination. However, our nation’s favourite drug is also responsible for as many life-years lost as tobacco, but with additional psychological and socio-economic costs.
NHS Health Checks now include AUDIT-C, a brief screening tool designed to help identify people who may be problem drinkers. Taking the test can be a sobering experience for patients, but now is the time to get a grip on our national relationship with alcohol.
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