A glass of rum on a cold winter night would, to many of us, seem like a great idea. Although it is commonly experienced that colder weather predisposes one to alcohol consumption, only recently has a study been conducted to substantiate this supposed relationship.
The study published online in the Hepatology journal used data from 193 countries as well as 50 states and 3144 counties in the United States. It revealed that the percentage of heavy episodic drinking and total drinkers among the population was inversely related with temperature and sunshine hours.
In the words of senior author Ramon Bataller, associate director of the Pittsburgh Liver Research Centre,
This is the first study that systematically demonstrates that worldwide and in America, in colder areas and areas with less sun, you have more drinking and more alcoholic cirrhosis.
More significantly, colder weather conditions also lead to higher incidence of binge drinking and liver diseases like cirrhosis.
An effective remedial measure, according to Dr Peter McCann, medical adviser to Castle Craig Hospital, might be to restrict alcohol advertising during winter months and stricter alcohol pricing.
He added, "Stricter laws on alcohol pricing are surely justified when we consider the devastating combined effect of low sunlight and cheaper alcohol on consumption.”
Alcohol consumption has been a consistent health issue in India. A global study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that alcohol consumption is up by 55% in the last two decades in India. What’s worse, in the list of 40 nations, India ranked at the 3rd slot, for this huge spike in alcohol intake between 1992 and 2012.
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