Frequently Asked Questions

What is binge drinking? Most people associate binge drinking with drinking lots of alcohol over a fairly short period and getting very drunk. However the official definition of binge drinking from the Department of Health is drinking more than double the recommended daily units in one session. So if a man drinks 8 or more units (more than 3 or 4 pints of beer) or a woman drinks 6 or more (more than 2 or 3 glasses of wine) then they are considered to be binge drinking. The important issue is not whether we are or are not binge drinkers but that we are aware of how much we are drinking and understand the risks involved.

I am worried about someone’s drinking habits, where can I get help and support?You can contact Drinkline, a free confidential helpline, on 0800 917 8282. it’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A trained advisor will be able to discuss your concerns with you and point you towards local support services.

If I want help with my own drinking where should I go? Your own doctor should be able to help and if you need specialist help the GP will refer you. However if you prefer you can phone or call in on the alcohol service yourself without a doctor being involved. Bolton’s alcohol Service (ADS) can be contacted on 01204 393660.

Can you get treatment for alcohol problems on the NHS?Yes of course. Your doctor will refer you to ADS which is an NHS funded service or you can contact them direct on 01204 393660.

What is a unit of alcohol? A unit is 10mls (or 8gms) of alcohol. There is one unit in a 25ml measure of whisky and in most single shots of spirit. The ABV or ‘Alcohol By Volume’ tells you the percentage of the drink that is made up of pure alcohol and in the case of whiskey it is 40%. You can work out how many units are in a drink by dividing the volume by 1000 and multiplying this by the ABV. So a 750ml bottle of wine at 13% ABV is: 750/1000 = 0.75 x 13 = 9.75 units.

How many units can I drink safely? It is probably best to pose this question in terms of how much risk is there in drinking alcohol? For a man it is recommended that regularly drinking no more than 3 or 4 units a day is considered ‘low risk’. For a woman it is recommended that regularly drinking no more than 2 or 3 units a day is considered ‘low risk’. The risk of harm increases at levels above this. Whatever you consumption it is a good idea to have a couple of days a week when you don’t drink alcohol at all.

Is it safe to drink whilst pregnant? If you are pregnant or trying for a baby it is best to avoid alcohol completely as alcohol passes directly to the developing foetus as you share the same blood supply. This can cause life long birth defects and/or damage to the brain that may cause life long learning problems.

What are the long term risks of heavy drinking?
Drinking more than the recommended number of units regular over a period of time can lead to:
- certain types of cancer, including liver, mouth and breast cancer
- memory loss, brain damage or even dementia
- increased risk of heart disease and certain types of stroke
- lliver disease, such as cirrhosis and liver cancer

What are the short term risks of heavy drinking?
- anxiety
- sexual difficulties such as impotence
- slowed breathing and heartbeat
- loss of consciousness
- accidents and injuries
- suffocation through choking on your own vomit
- potentially fatal poisoning

Hi I just need a little help cutting down. Should I completely stop going to the pub?It is not easy to give specific advice because it depends on your circumstances, what triggers your drinking and what you get - apart from alcohol - from the pub experience. Certainly if you think that ‘going to the pub’ inevitably leads you to drink too much then avoiding the temptation can help. However if you make your life misserable in the process you may be setting yourself up to fail. If so then perhaps you could try to modify your pub going experience - go less often, go later or at different times and leave earlier, decide in advance how much you want to drink and stick to it, only take enough money for the number of drinks you want to have. Try to take control of the situation rather than have the situation control you.

Your guidance says I’m only allowed to drink 2-3 units a day (I’m female). I only usually drink once a week & go to the pub. I know I can’t save up all my 14 units, & I don’t want to get very drunk anyway, but how many units can I save up? 2-3 units is only about a pint of bitter & that’s hardly worth it.Strictly speaking you can’t ‘save any units up’, however the recommended limits are about not ‘regularly’ drinking more than 2 - 3 units so you might interpret this as giving some leeway. Officially a binge is drinking twice the recomended limit i.e. 6 units for you, so if you have 2 and half pints of ordinary bitter you are not quite binging and as long as you don’t do it regularly.....In the end it is your choice and It sounds to me as though you have a pretty good grip of what is reasonable.

Is a small amount of red wine good for you?There is evidence that a small amount of alcohol (the equivalent of one small glass of wine on alternate days) can reduce the risk of certain types of stroke, but only in older people i.e. women who have gone through the menopause and men who are over 45years of age. It is irrelevant what colour the wine is. This effect is reversed however if the amount consumed is more than the recommended limits and for younger people there is no benefit at all.

Is good quality wine and beer less harmful than cheap cider or spirits?The quality of the drink really makes no difference since it is the alcohol content that causes the harm. However better quality drinks taken in moderation are arguably more enjoyable than cheap booze – unless that is the aim is simply to get drunk.

What is an alcoholic?There are many different views on this and no single view is accepted by everyone. Many people assume that an alcoholic is anyone who is ‘dependent’ or ‘addicted’ to alcohol. Some people think of alcoholism as a disease. Some very heavy drinkers will sometimes say ‘I may drink a lot but I am not an alcoholic’ as if this legitimises their use of alcohol. Alcohol dependency is itself a difficult thing to pin down. Some people may have a ‘physical dependency’ such that if they stop drinking their bodies react and their health is quickly compromised. Others may have a strong psychological dependency so that they cannot imagine going a day without a drink. Some people who have a dependency will subscribe to the view that by admitting that they are alcoholic they can then begin to deal with their problem i.e. stop drinking altogether. In the end the label ‘alcoholic’ is not necessarily useful for everyone since it cannot describe the range of problems that individuals have with drink. It is probably more useful to talk of people who are problematic drinkers or people who have an alcohol dependency.

The government are telling me I should only drink 20 odd units a week. I've been drinking 70 to a 100 for years and I'm in really good health. How can they know my current drinking habits are going to affect me in the long term?Much alcohol harm does not become evident until the damage is done so the fact that you feel fine now is not a guarantee of anything. It is true that it is not possible to predict in advance how any individual might be affected by alcohol. But we can point to statistical analysis of disease and death rates correlated with alcohol use. In other words we can calculate the risk that a person takes depending on how much they drink. You may be the lucky person who can drink at those levels and still live to a ripe old age with no problems like a person who crosses the road blinfold and just happens to miss the traffic. But the chances of you suffering alcohol related harm drinking at those levels are much greater than for someone who drinks at a lower risk level. To stretch the analogy if you drink at a lower risk level you are like the person who has their eyes open when you cross the road.

how many people are drinking over there limits It is estimated that roughly one in three men and one in five women drink more than the recommended limits. In bolton this equates to about 50,000 people. Many people will not even be aware of how many units they drink or what potential harm it can cause.

Need any help or advice?
Our question and answer service is totally confidential and we’ll get back to you within 24 hours.

Your questions may be displayed on our frequently asked questions page, but trust us, it will remain anonymous and may help solve someones elses problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Supported By: