Alcohol

Excessive alcohol consumption is one of the main preventable public health problems in Australia.

There is a clear link between the amount of alcohol consumed, either in the short- or long-term, and the level of harm that results. The health impacts from alcohol vary for different age groups and include:

• underage drinking can affect normal development of the brain
• young people, up to the age of 25, are at higher risk of alcohol related harm, particularly due to a greater risk of accident and injury
• heavy drinking can also adversely affect brain development in young people, which is not complete until around 25 years of age
• Drinking during pregnancy can result in a condition known as Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder or FASD, which can cause congenital abnormalities, brain damage and lifelong disabilities
• when applying the latest international data to Australia, analysis by the Victorian Cancer Council estimated that 22 percent of the nation’s breast cancer cases were linked to alcohol consumption
• older people can be more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol due to physiological changes associated with ageing, especially as a result of adverse interactions between certain types of medications with alcohol.