April 2008

Kat Arney helps you calculate how much booze your epigenome can handle

It’s hard to open a newspaper nowadays without seeing dire warnings that we are binge-drinking our way to a “health time bomb”, with alcohol fuelling the rise of liver disease, cancer, obesity and evenruptured bladders. But turn the page, and there’s an article touting the benefits of booze for protecting against heart disease, and the life-lengthening cancer-preventing effects of red wine – you can even find one on this very site.

It’s all so confusing it’s enough to drive anyone to drink. But before you take a swig of that wine, it may be worth considering the impact that alcohol has on your epigenetic state, as well as your sobriety.