You need help

[Gob]

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 Care 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.

He said: "Once again this is going to increase pressure on the NHS when there are alternatives that would reduce pressure on health services by cutting alcohol consumption.

"There are plenty of ways that don't require prescribing and the additional pressures on the NHS that could reduce harmful drinking.

[Long Run]

Not nice at all!

[wesw]

sounds like a muslim plot to me

[wesw]

...sherrya law

[Scooter]

Another Daily Mail piece?

There's a huge difference between saying that "hundreds of thousands of people...are to be put on" a drug, vs. making a drug available to those who have decided for themselves that they are consuming too much alcohol and are looking for help cutting down their drinking.

[Guinevere]

Yeah, "are to be put on" seems like a huge overstatement.

[Guinevere]

...sherrya law

Now *that's* funny!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Yes it is

[Gob]

Another Daily Mail piece?

Daily Telegraph.

[rubato]

The sleeve of care is badly raveled and needs a lot of knitting up.

A LOT.

yrs,
rubato

But really. A half a bottle a night is sustainable consumption but if you're overweight it represents calories which are better not consumed and if you have, or border, on high blood pressure its not a good idea. And while you can get away with it at 25 by 50 the markers have shifted and its not such a red-hot idea.

[Scooter]

Another Daily Mail piece?

Daily Telegraph.

Hmm, would have thought that the Telegraph's reporting standards would have been higher.

[BoSoxGal]

The sleeve of care is badly raveled and needs a lot of knitting up.

A LOT.

yrs,
rubato

But really. A half a bottle a night is sustainable consumption but if you're overweight it represents calories which are better not consumed and if you have, or border, on high blood pressure its not a good idea. And while you can get away with it at 25 by 50 the markers have shifted and its not such a red-hot idea.

I believe the American Heart Association and AMA guidelines are one drink/day for women, 2/drinks day for men. Many, many Americans far exceed that consumption.

I wonder how long until a similar drug is available in the US?

[rubato]

There HAS to be a better way.


yrs,
rubato

[Big RR]

there probably are many better ways; but none that put money in the pockets of the pharmaceutical company selling/promoting the drug.

Getting authorities to sign on to marketing well though out public health ( ) policies like this are par for the course.

[Sue U]

there probably are many better ways; but none that put money in the pockets of the pharmaceutical company selling/promoting the drug.

Getting authorities to sign on to marketing well though out public health ( ) policies like this are par for the course.

That's it in a nutshell. Even better if the government is paying the tab.

[oldr_n_wsr]

I have to look into this.

is taken when people feel the urge to have a drink and stops them from wanting more than one.

From what I have learned (and can attest to); the true alocholic, after having one drink, will continue to have another and another and another until there is no more booze, he passes out, or is otherwise inhibited from getting more booze (death, jail....).

This pill seems to boast that it can turn the alcoholic into a "normal" drinker.

They should try it out on some of us "real" alcoholics (aka, those of us who once start drinking will not stop for anything). I'm sure if they advertised about this clinical trial there would be plenty of people who would sign up.

ETA
I forgot to comment on this

Men drinking three pints of beer and women drinking two large glasses of wine per night

I would not consider these "real" alcoholics. Three pints of beer (or three shots) are what a real alcoholic drinks in the morning just to stop shaking.

[Jarlaxle]

I recall reading a while back that Winston Churchill was good for a quart of whiskey a day, and usually also drank a bottle of wine with dinner!

(And he lived to 90...)

[MajGenl.Meade]

Fit bloke, too.

[rubato]

Fat, fat bloke.

As a 20-something he was fit. Later he was a blob.

yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]