Selected media stories since the December roundup, not including the widely reported change in drinking guidelines:
Alcohol, health and the NHS
The NHS faces a ticking timebomb of dementia, brain damage and liver disease due to the heavy drinking of the baby boomer generation, reported the Daily Mail
A study reported in the Daily Mail found that alcohol consumption can increase consumption of unhealthy food via its effects on inhibitory control, although not in highly restrained eaters.
Paramedics are called out to treat drunks every 22 minutes despite a battle to curb Scotland’s booze culture, with the latest figures showing 999 crews dealt with 90,309 intoxicated patients in the last three and a half years. Express
Healthcare professionals shared their experiences of funding constraints, violent behaviour and drink-related disease and death in the Guardian, which also sent seven reporters to city centres across the country to report on one night of British drinking – and its impact on the National Health Service, here.
The Local Government Association has said alcoholic drinks should have calorie counts on their packaging to help fight obesity, said the Independent.
The Daily Mail said there is now good evidence that many foods in the Mediterranean diet including vegetables, pulses, whole grains and olive oil contain protective substances that help counter alcohol’s harmful effects.
Research and behaviour
Scientists have discovered that taking supplements of the ‘kudzu’ plant – a member of the pea family – can automatically cut alcohol intake by 20 per cent reported the Daily Mail.
Psychologists have found that big upheavals create a window of opportunity for getting rid of bad habits, such as smoking (and presumably, drinking excessively), reported the Telegraph.
The over-50s are increasingly turning to alcohol to cope with stress, retirement, bereavement and isolation, a survey has found, said the Express.
The Guardian rounded up the research and cultural changes around drinking in pregnancy in a feature asking Is it safe?
One in 20 British women is a ‘drunkorexic’ – regularly skipping meals in favour of alcohol, because going without food means they can ‘make up’ those lost calories in booze. Daily Mail
Random drug and alcohol tests introduced for Birmingham dust cart drivers in the wake of the Glasgow lorry crash have been blamed in part for staff absences and missed bin collections over Christmas, reported the Birmingham Mail.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency has published data on the number of individuals who have been disqualified from driving after a drink driving offence, in response to a Freedom of Information request.
Young people 
UK teens are heavily exposed to alcohol and tobacco images and lyrics in digital YouTube music videos, indicates research reported by EurekAlert! Those exposed the most are 13-15 year olds, and girls, the findings suggest.
The Express explored the question: as parents, how can we influence our children’s behaviour so that their relationship with alcohol is a healthy one, both in the formative teenage years and later in adult life?
Meanwhile the Independent said Britain's young people are turning away from alcohol in droves, with the proportion of 16-24-year-olds who do not drink increasing by more than 40 per cent between 2005 and 2013.
Other news
A group of doctors and health experts is urging the House of Lords to support a bill to lower the drink-driving limit across the whole of the UK. They want England, Wales and Northern Ireland brought in line with Scotland. BBC News
Parliament UK has published National Offender Management Service data on how much illicitly-brewed alcohol was seized in prisons in each of the last 10 years.
Street drinkers could be given a permanent Liverpool city centre base offering access to help and medical care, said the Liverpool Echo.
The Public Health Agency (PHA) said doctors and nurses in Northern Ireland will ask patients about their alcohol intake to help detect those whose habits may be unknowingly putting them at risk of future heart disease and cancer as well as those approaching alcohol dependency and needing urgent counselling or care. Belfast Telegraph
Alcohol industry
The alcohol industry makes most of its money – an estimated £23.7bn in sales in England alone – from people whose drinking is destroying or risking their health, say experts who accuse the industry of irresponsible pricing and marketing, reported the Guardian (and many others, including the Independent)
Alcohol-free beer is gaining in popularity in the UK, according to new research from AB InBev UK which says 31% of us have now tried alcohol-free beer, and 19% of us cannot taste any difference between it and regular alcoholic beer, reported Off Licence News
Heineken has launched a global ad campaign promoting moderate drinking that even features a man rejecting the offer of a beer, said the Guardian
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