Is alcohol consumption bad for health

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102 HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
Fig. 5-3 Alcohol consumption levels by sex, 1992 (after General Household Survey 1994)
who stated that of 1000 20-year-olds in the UK who smoke cigarettes regularly about
one will be murdered, six will die from traffic accidents, 250 will die from cigarettes in
middle age (35–69) and another 250 will die from smoking in old age (70 and over). In
industrialized countries smoking is the leading cause of loss of healthy life years. The
average smoker dies eight years early and starts to suffer disability 12 years early whilst
a quarter of smokers who fail to stop die an average of 23 years early (West and Shiffman
2004).
Recently, there has also been an interest in passive smoking and research suggests
an association between passive smoking and lung cancer in adults and respiratory ill
health in children (US Environmental Protection Agency 1992).
Positive effects
There are very few positive health effects of cigarette smoking. It has been suggested
that smokers report positive mood effects from smoking and that smoking can help
individuals to cope with difficult circumstances (Graham 1987).
Is alcohol consumption bad for health?
Negative effects
Alcohol consumption has several negative effects on health. For example, alcoholism
increases the chance of disorders such as liver cirrhosis, cancers (e.g. pancreas and liver),
hypertension and memory deficits (Smith and Kraus 1988). Alcohol also increases the
chances of self-harm through accidents.
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