Cheers Covid-19: Will we consume more alcohol during this crisis?

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Ian Hamilton reflects on the empty shelves in the Supermarket alcohol aisle and wonders how our relationship with alcohol might change during the Coronavirus pandemic.

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New evidence update from NICE on the prevention of problem drinking

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The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recently published an evidence update focussed on preventing harmful drinking. This update builds upon previous recommendations (NICE PH24, 2010) and is aimed at increasing awareness of the latest evidence available. Furthermore, the update indicates whether any new research may have potential impact on future NICE [read the full story…]

Is gabapentin a promising drug for the treatment of alcohol dependence?

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Alcohol misuse is responsible for about 4% of all deaths annually, and in the UK it costs the NHS more than £3 billion per year.  A number of medications are currently licensed for the treatment of alcohol dependence. Unfortunately the medications don’t work for everyone and in the USA at least, fewer than 10% of [read the full story…]

Tailored primary care intervention for heavy drinking may be counterproductive

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Approximately 15% of adults in Europe drink alcohol to excess, at levels that are likely to affect their health. Most of these people are not alcohol dependent and do not require intensive treatment such as detox and aftercare, but many of them would benefit from a ‘nudge’ to reduce their drinking to safer levels.  Screening [read the full story…]

NICE publish new evidence summary on harmful drinking and alcohol dependence

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NICE have published a new evidence summary (PDF) on the problems associated with alcohol misuse, which augments the clinical guideline (PDF) that came out 2 years ago. This is a fast moving area, so quite a significant amount of research has been produced in the last 2 years, which may have an impact on clinical [read the full story…]

Government publish response to the Health Select Committee inquiry on the Alcohol Strategy

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The Government has published its response to the House of Commons Health Select Committee inquiry on the Government’s Alcohol Strategy. The Committee gave a positive welcome overall to the Government’s Alcohol Strategy and it welcomed the decision to introduce a minimum unit price for alcohol. The 4 key recommendations from the report are: The Committee [read the full story…]

Benzodiazepines may protect against seizures in alcohol withdrawal syndrome

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Every once in a while the Cochrane library publish an overview of reviews to summarise the evidence for a specific intervention. Such an overview has recently been made available to bring together all of the Cochrane reviews that assess the effectiveness and safety of pharmacological interventions in the treatment of alcohol withdrawal. The overview brings [read the full story…]