Posted on 10/02/2014 4:30:02 PM PDT by BulletBobCo
GPs will prescribe nalmefene and actively ask about patients' alcohol consumption, under new plans by national health watchdog Nice to tackle alcohol abuse.
Hundreds of thousands of people drinking half a bottle of wine a night are to be put on the first ever drug to help reduce alcohol consumption, under plans announced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Men drinking three pints of beer and women drinking two large glasses of wine per night and who do not cut down within two weeks should be prescribed a new drug, Nice has said.
There are an estimated 750,000 people in the UK who would be eligible for nalmefene who show no overt symptoms associated with their drinking.
The plans mean GPs will actively ask patients about their alcohol consumption even when they see them for unrelated health matters such as low mood, inability to sleep, diabetes and high blood pressure.
The drug, which costs £3 per tablet, is taken when people feel the urge to have a drink and stops them from wanting more than one.
The plans will cost £288m per year and it is estimated to save 1,854 lives over five years and prevent 43,074 alcohol-related diseases and injuries over the same period.
The NHS and local authorities will be required to make funding available within three months.
Prof Mark Bellis, alcohol lead for the Faculty of Public Health said there were relatively simple alternatives that would reduce alcohol consumption without the need to medicate the middle classes such as reducing advertising of alcohol and introducing a minimum price per unit.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
I’m so stressed out right now that I’m about to get drunk. o.O
This is their equivalent of the FDA, recommending that moderate drinkers should be prescribed a drug, not that they may if they wish to reduce their drinking. I think they are on the silly (but potentially totalitarian) trail blazed by Bloomberg when he tried to ban the Big Gulp. Is that the goal - to get us to accept government micromanagement of our lives? No, thank you.
LOVE Columbia Crest!
They recently stopped selling it here in NC.
It’s a kinder, gentler form of sharia.
Nothing but nothing like single malt scotch! My very favorite.
My doctor suggested the mediterranean diet One glass of red wine per night for women, 2 for men.
Have trouble with red wine headaches though
People who want to command your life and tell you what to do and not to do are the New Puritans.
http://www.mediabistro.com/prnewser/study-abstaining-from-alcohol-will-cause-premature-death_b79920
And this is the thing that kills me. There are reams of literature on the health benefits of 2 glasses of alcohol a night. If you have one with dinner and sip another before bed, you can’t even get tipsy off of that.
My husband’s dr tried to tell him that he was an alcoholic for his nightly drinks. When hubs defended himself, the doctor said sincerely, “It’s alright. I’m an alcoholic, too.”
Hubs went OFF. Within fifteen minutes, he’d finally gotten through to the doctor that having a couple of drinks to unwind did not an alcoholic make. The doctor was relieved.
When I sober up I’ll try to remember what label we were drinking. :-)
My son in law is French and his grandfather was in the hospital last year. He has drank two bottles of wine everyday since he was twelve years old. The doctor said he would have to give it up before it kills him. He asked if that would be in his 93rd. year or next year at 94?
Alcoholism isn’t a matter of what you drink, when or how much. It’s what happens when you drink that matters.
Two glasses of wine at night does not make an alcoholic.
“Have trouble with red wine headaches though”
Red wine gives our entire family migraines. (My daughter will end up in the ER if she drinks any wine)
Hubs is a micro-brew fan. His dream is to start seriously brewing his own stuff when he retires.
I love beer and a good shot of vodka. Not into anything sweet.
(And that’s how you *know* that you’re not an alcoholic. Is there anything that you refuse to drink, even if that’s all that’s available?)
Reminds me of a line that George Burns had when he was about 95..he'd take a couple of big puffs from his cigar,smile and say "Three doctors have told me to quit smoking.Two are dead and the third isn't feeling too good".
I can't do gin.
I really despise whiskey (though sometimes I'll have a shot with my little brother, a marine, when we're together).
He’s been deployed to the ‘dry’ middle east seven times and he was fine each time. He *never* gets drunk. Ever. He has his couple of high-quality brews, then he stops.
It is not what you drink, when you drink, where you drink, who you drink with, or how much you drink that makes you an alcoholic.
It is why you drink and what happens to you when you drink that makes you an alcoholic.
If you don't think you are an alcoholic you may be right. If you think you are, you are almost assuredly correct.
If this helps people who think they have a problem with alcohol then I am all for it. I am dubious about the drug's efficacy.
If you are further gone and want help that works, look in the very front of your phone book for AA, or click here
You can always PM me.
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
One more thing: If he can ‘unwind’ in a combat zone, then I think he’s pretty well adjusted.
I’m not a fan of whiskey, but I will make myself a toddy if I’m under the weather. It does help with a cold.
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