This confirms the over-arching message of Alcohol Companion that we should not see alcohol as a preventative medicine for any condition. In this case there are numerous better ways to improve our heart health without alcohol’s inherent risks. These include better diet, sleep, lowering stress and taking moderate exercise. Those who do drink at a very low level, meanwhile, have little to worry about, but best not to harbour the hope it is improving their heart health. ■

This is the same as the provisional figure first reported in Alcohol Review in December. It has so far sparked little concern. A 19% rise in the UK for the same year triggered national headlines and parliamentary debate. The CDC also increased its estimate for the rise in alcohol-induced deaths for last year compared to pre-pandemic levels to 22%. ■

The heaviest drinking UK households bought 17 times more alcohol than the lightest drinking ones at the start of the covid pandemic, a study says, helping to explain record high levels of alcohol-induced death… (full story)