Drinking - the hypocrisy and the home truths

The publicist Emma Pycroft, who developed liver disease and died aged 33 from drinking too much alcohol, made the headlines last week.

People were shocked but I suspect that as with so many stories like this the general reaction was one of detachment: "It will never happen to me."

Emma was not a binge-drinker, nor did she drink to excess; she merely drank consistently.

Alcohol has formed such an integral part of our social and working lives — especially here in London — that the pressure to drink is a constant in the background.

Corporate entertaining is a necessary part of many jobs and drinking alcohol is expected.

If women are drinking with men they may well be imbibing man-sized quantities, which will quickly lead to health problems.

My patients do seem to know about units, and some even know how many units they are allowed, but very few can accurately estimate how much they drink.

There exists a huge disparity between what is too much in social terms and what the medical profession would consider excessive.

Half a bottle of wine a night is normal and quite acceptable for many people.

To medics it is well over the recommended limits of three or four units a day for men and two or three units for women.

I can't see how any professional woman keeping up with the guys during corporate events can stick to her limit.

This especially worries me as women are far more susceptible to the ill effects of alcohol than their male colleagues.

The toxic effects of alcohol have more impact on the female liver, heart and brain and the minimal amount required to cause cirrhosis in women is two to three times less than in men.