You only have to worry that you are becoming an alcoholic if you find yourself drinking hard liquor on your own at nine in the morning, right? Apparently not. David Bayever, a Wits pharmacist and Acting Chair of the Central Drug Authority says that if you drink at as little as two litres of alcohol a weekend you are at risk of becoming an alcoholic.
But surely drinking two litres of beer and two litres of vodka are completely different things?
"Obviously, there are many variables including age and alcohol tolerance," says Bayever "but you have to start somewhere".
So how much is too much?
According to Bayever, two litres is a rough estimate. So while there is no guarantee that drinking two litres of beer a weekend will make you an alcoholic (there can’t be any argument about the vodka), it will certainly put you at risk of becoming one.
While it is common knowledge that gender, to a certain degree, affects your alcohol tolerance — larger males generally being able to drink more — it is not widely known that your age can affect the likelihood of you becoming an addict.
It is estimated that it can take between five and 15 years for an adult to become an addict. Teenagers on the other hand can become addicts in the short period of five to 15 weeks, says Bayever.
Paul Adriaanse of Alcohol and Drug Concerns suggests that you can’t really give a blanket figure of two litres because there are many criteria and you need to look at what the alcohol consumption is doing "physically and psychologically and what effect it is having on the environment".
He says that while drinking two litres a weekend may very well mean that you have a problem, everyone has different tolerance levels and these levels increase with increased consumption.
High-risk binge drinking
"You need to start worrying if you are staying home from work or if there is a change in your temperament, if you have reduced inhibitions or impaired judgment and if you are suffering from 'alcoholic blackouts'," he says.
The Medical Research Council regards 'binge drinking' as 'high-risk' drinking behaviour. However, it also suggests that 'low-risk' drinking can in fact be healthy for certain groups. It defines 'low-risk' drinking as four units per day for males and two units per day for females, for not more than five days of a week.
If one unit is a 340ml can of beer, then four units is 1360ml. The difference therefore, in the case of men, between what is regarded as healthy and what is regarded as damaging is just under two cans of beer.
Alcohol is the primary drug of abuse in South Africa, with approximately 7.5 percent of the population engaging in weekend 'binge drinking' and Red Cross Children’s hospital has estimated that the total cost to the economy annually — including the cost of inability to work and child abuse — is around R20–billion.
But surely drinking two litres of beer and two litres of vodka are completely different things?
"Obviously, there are many variables including age and alcohol tolerance," says Bayever "but you have to start somewhere".
So how much is too much?
According to Bayever, two litres is a rough estimate. So while there is no guarantee that drinking two litres of beer a weekend will make you an alcoholic (there can’t be any argument about the vodka), it will certainly put you at risk of becoming one.
While it is common knowledge that gender, to a certain degree, affects your alcohol tolerance — larger males generally being able to drink more — it is not widely known that your age can affect the likelihood of you becoming an addict.
It is estimated that it can take between five and 15 years for an adult to become an addict. Teenagers on the other hand can become addicts in the short period of five to 15 weeks, says Bayever.
Paul Adriaanse of Alcohol and Drug Concerns suggests that you can’t really give a blanket figure of two litres because there are many criteria and you need to look at what the alcohol consumption is doing "physically and psychologically and what effect it is having on the environment".
He says that while drinking two litres a weekend may very well mean that you have a problem, everyone has different tolerance levels and these levels increase with increased consumption.
High-risk binge drinking
"You need to start worrying if you are staying home from work or if there is a change in your temperament, if you have reduced inhibitions or impaired judgment and if you are suffering from 'alcoholic blackouts'," he says.
The Medical Research Council regards 'binge drinking' as 'high-risk' drinking behaviour. However, it also suggests that 'low-risk' drinking can in fact be healthy for certain groups. It defines 'low-risk' drinking as four units per day for males and two units per day for females, for not more than five days of a week.
If one unit is a 340ml can of beer, then four units is 1360ml. The difference therefore, in the case of men, between what is regarded as healthy and what is regarded as damaging is just under two cans of beer.
Alcohol is the primary drug of abuse in South Africa, with approximately 7.5 percent of the population engaging in weekend 'binge drinking' and Red Cross Children’s hospital has estimated that the total cost to the economy annually — including the cost of inability to work and child abuse — is around R20–billion.
To put this into perspective, at least 400,000 RDP houses could be built each year with the money that alcohol abuse costs the country. If you are drinking two litres of beer each weekend (assuming that that is all that you are drinking) you are probably spending about R3120 on beer each year. Could your money be better spent? - Health iAfrica
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