Nanna in the Royle Family was often heard to say "I never drink me, just a sherry at Christmas, whiskey at new year and a bottle of stout." We all know it's easy to get carried away at this time of year and NHS South West has come up with a novel way of helping people track their alcohol consumption.
With 90,975 alcohol related hospital admissions in the South West last year, of which 2,582 were people under 18 years, NHS South West have come up with a solution to help people to keep track of the amount of alcohol they drink via a mobile phone application.
Julia Verne, South West Deputy Regional Director of Public Health, is urging everyone to download a new mobile phone application that will help them keep track the amount of alcohol they are consuming and help make them aware of the number of units in their drinks.
The alcohol tracker application for mobile phones, available from iTunes and www.nhs.uk, helps people to:
- work out how many alcoholic units there are in a range of alcoholic drinks
- See how much alcohol they have consumed over a set period
- Get personalised feedback on their drinking habits
- Find local NHS clinics and advice centres.
Dr Verne said: “It is understandable that everyone wants to have a good time and enjoy themselves over Christmas and the New Year, but it is important that people do not regularly drink above the recommended daily limits as it can cause serious health problems in the future.
“There are many ways to moderate the amount you drink, and this new mobile phone application not only allows you to keep track of the amount of alcohol you are drinking, but also see the amount of alcohol in those drinks.
“A lot of people do not realise that the alcohol content has increased in a lot of drinks, with a large glass of strong red wine now the equivalent of three shots of vodka. This is the recommended daily limit for men and above the limit for women.”
Public Health Minister Gillian Merron said: “It is all too easy to lose track of how much you drink. So as the festive parties start to build up, this innovative tool will help people keep tabs on their drinking – wherever they are.”
Regularly drinking above the suggested daily limits can cause serious health problems in the future. Drinking above these levels can increase the risk of heart disease, breast cancer, liver disease, stroke and other illnesses as well as impact on your ability to get a good night’s sleep and affect your general day-to-day health.
To help people become more alcohol aware Dr Verne has some top tips to helping people ‘rethink your drink’ over the festive period:
1. Never drink alcohol and drive.
2. Think about your personal safety; ‘don’t become a victim under the influence of alcohol’.
3.Decide on your ultimate goal. Do you want to cut down to a set weekly amount? Maybe you want to avoid binge drinking? Or perhaps you would like to give up alcohol altogether?
4. Keep a drink diary. Writing this on a regular basis will help you to work out how much you're drinking.
5.Pace yourself. Try drinking each drink more slowly or alternating alcoholic drinks with soft or low alcohol ones.
News Source :- http://www.bidefordpeople.co.uk
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