title: Impact of minimum price per unit of alcohol on patients with liver disease in the UK.
abstract: The slow epidemic of liver disease in the UK over the past 30 years is a result of increased consumption of strong cheap alcohol. When we examined alcohol consumption in 404 subjects with a range of liver disease, we confirmed that patients with alcohol-related cirrhosis drank huge amounts of cheap alcohol, with a mean weekly consumption of 146 units in men and 142 in women at a median price of 33p/unit compared with £1.10 for low-risk drinkers. For the patients in our study, the impact of a minimum unit price of 50p/unit on spending on alcohol would be 200 times higher for patients with liver disease who were drinking at harmful levels than for low-risk drinkers. As a health policy, a minimum unit price for alcohol is exquisitely targeted at the heaviest drinkers, for whom the impact of alcohol-related illness is most devastating.
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Experimental Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK sheron@soton.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Nick
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sheron
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Fern
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chilcott
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Matthews
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Challoner
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
mesh_terms: D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000434:Alcoholic Beverages / Q000191:economics*; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008104:Liver Cirrhosis, Alcoholic / Q000453:epidemiology; D008108:Liver Diseases, Alcoholic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Alcohol; alcohol policy; cirrhosis; liver; minimum unit price
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