AHA Bulletin - November 2024 - Alcohol Health Alliance

Alcohol and the brain, explained

Alcohol can cause both short and long-term impacts on the brain, from slurred speech to brain shrinkage. With insight from Dr Anya Topiwala, senior researcher at the University of Oxford, the latest video in the Institute of Alcohol Studies’ Explained series describes how alcohol alters the brain, and how these effects change throughout our life course and at different levels of consumption.

10-year strategy for a healthier, fairer Scotland

A coalition of health organisations reducing the health burden of non-communicable disease (NCD) through action on alcohol, tobacco, and high fat, salt and sugar products, have published a 10-year strategy for a healthier, fairer future for Scotland.

The strategy calls for a unified approach to tackle these health-harming products, and incudes short, medium and long-term policy interventions with these five key principles:

adopt a commercial determinants of health approach to public health
effectively govern the commercial determinants of health
restrict the marketing of health-harming products
restrict the availability of health-harming products
take action on the price of health-harming products

Read the full NCD Alliance report.

Road Safety Week: BMA campaign to reduce the drink driving limit

This Road Safety Week (17-23 November), the British Medical Association (BMA) are calling for Government action to tackle drink and drug-driving. In their consensus statement agreed amongst medical professional bodies, alcohol and road safety charities and campaign groups, and police and emergency services, they lay out several recommendations including lowering the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) limit for driving, and increasing alcohol and drug treatment service capacity and capability.

If you would like to add your organisation to the list of those endorsing the statement, please contact hwright@bma.org.uk.

Get up to speed with the latest evidence on alcohol harms

The next Alcohol Knowledge Exchange Workshop will be held in Edinburgh in January 2025, coordinated by SPECTRUM, the NIHR Policy Research Unit, Addictions and the University of Stirling. This highly regarded 3-day workshop is suitable for anyone who is relatively new to alcohol or wants to get up to speed with the latest evidence on alcohol harms, policy research, evidence, and practice from world-leading experts. Attendance is free for public sector colleagues working in academia, healthcare, the charity sector and local and national government.

Find out more information and register your interest for the workshop.

World Diabetes Day: Alcohol and diabetes

With 14 November marking #WorldDiabetesDay, it’s important to consider the relationship between alcohol and diabetes. Diabetes UK share all the facts you need to know, including:

Higher alcohol consumption is associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Drinking alcohol can add to the chances of having a hypo, as it reduces the body’s ability to recover when blood sugar levels are dropping.
Alcohol can also contain a lot of calories and high levels of sugar, yet neither of these are required on alcohol labels, which is why we are calling for better mandatory labelling.

For more information, visit the Diabetes UK website.