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“Domestic violence is a widely discussed issue in Australia. However, many narratives fail to acknowledge the impact of alcohol and illicit substances on the prevalence and severity of domestic violence. They also fail to adequately describe the complexity of violence that occurs within families.                                                                                                     

A new study has revealed heavy episodic drinking doubles the risk of family and domestic violence. (Alcohol/Drug-Involved Family Violence in Australia (http://www.ndlerf.gov.au/publications/monographs/monograph-68)

Heavy drinking was also found to be linked to increased coercive controlling behaviour. This encompasses the behaviours used to exert control over an intimate partner such as financial control, threatening and intimidating behaviour, emotional control and isolation.”             

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Written by Honor Whiteman  Published: 3 December 2016            

The festive season is upon us, meaning many of us will be indulging in a drink or two at office parties or family gatherings. But a new study suggests it might be worth steering clear of white wine; it could raise the risk of melanoma. Researchers found white wine could be independently linked to greater risk of melanoma.
Eunyoung Cho, an associate professor of dermatology and epidemiology at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School in Providence, RI, and colleagues recently published their findings in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.  Melanoma is a form of skin cancer that begins in melanocytes, which are cells in the top layer of skin.                                              
 

While melanoma is significantly less common than other skin cancers - such as basal cell carcinoma - it is much more deadly. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 10,000 people in the United States will die from melanoma in 2016.  Now, Cho and team suggest alcohol - particularly white wine - should be added to the list. Daily glass of white wine could raise melanoma risk by 13 percent.

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When I started my consultant job specialising in older people’s mental health, I did not have the faintest idea that I would be writing this nearly 20 years later against the backdrop of an alarming rise in the physical, psychological and social harms from alcohol among older people…5 years into my job, I could bear in no longer. With a ward where up to half my older patients had alcohol related mental health problems and finding that my community team was giving the stock answer of “Sorry, but we are not an addictions service” for anyone referred where alcohol played a large part in the presenting problem, I decided to gain additional expertise in addictions. It wasn’t easy juggling this against a busy clinical job, but it meant that my eyes were finally opened to the possibility of developing a service for older people whose alcohol misuse accompanied other mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and dementia…

For complete blog postBaby boomers and alcohol