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Published: 21 January 2025

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Big Alcohol Exposed Annual Report 2024 provides a detailed analysis of the alcohol industry’s worldwide activities. This report reveals the extent and penetration of Big Alcohol interference against people’s health, evidence-based public, policy, as well as healthy and inclusive societal norms. The report exposes the predatory practices deployed by Big Alcohol in the past year, to protect and promotes its profits, expand markets, and undermine lives saving alcohol policy measures. The products and practices of multinational alcohol corporations cause devastating health, social, and economic harms and this report shines a light on Big Alcohol’s track record in 2024. This report highlights the key themes, trends, and case studies that define the alcohol industry’s operations in 2024, offering a roadmap for advocates and policymakers to address these challenges.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS 

• The alcohol industry continues to prioritize their own profits over people’s health by targeting vulnerable populations, resisting effective regulation, and promoting harmful myths about alcohol’s benefits. Strategies such as health-washing, deceitful marketing, and political interference have been central elements of the alcohol industry’s playbook in 2024. 
• In 2024, key alcohol industry strategies included the normalization of alcohol through sports sponsorships, misleading health claims, greenwashing environmental impacts, and leveraging non-alcoholic product lines to build loyalty with alcoholic brands. These tactics not only obscure alcohol’s inherent risks but also seek to embed the alcohol industry as an indispensable part of society. 
• Big Alcohol continues to use economic power to pollute policy environments, and discourses often creating dependency relationships that hinder governments from implementing effective alcohol policy solutions. Investments and lobbying efforts in countries like Mexico, Uganda, and Brazil showcase the industry’s ability to block regulations that prioritize people’s health. 
• Advanced data-driven marketing techniques and targeted campaigns increasingly focus on Generation Z, embedding alcohol brands into social and digital spaces frequented by young people. This includes the use of influencers, apps, and streaming platforms to bypass regulatory frameworks and normalize alcohol among the young generation. 
• This year’s case stories document how Big Alcohol uses misinformation, industry-funded research, and co-opted prevention programs to deflect scrutiny and obscure its role in driving and perpetuating harm. From promoting the debunked J-curve myth, to funding school-based programs in Spain, the industry continues to prioritize its image over public health accountability

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Published: 15 January 2025

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Societal Pressure Holds Back Alcohol-Free Drinks Despite Growing Acceptance, Study Finds: Gen Now feeling most the push back against alcohol free drinks.

Societal pressure is hindering the growth of alcohol-free drinks, despite a rise in acceptance, according to recent research by Heineken and the University of Oxford. The study, involving nearly 12,000 adults across the UK, US, Spain, Japan, and Brazil, revealed that 80% of consumers believe alcohol-free drinks are more socially acceptable than they were five years ago. However, 51% of drinkers admitted to succumbing to societal pressure by choosing alcohol in social situations, even when they had planned otherwise.

Gen Z faces the greatest challenges, with over one in three young adults reporting feelings of pressure to drink in social settings. Additionally, 21% of Gen Z participants said they concealed their choice of low- or no-alcohol alternatives to avoid judgment. These findings underscore the widespread influence of societal norms on drinking behaviour, despite a growing trend toward mindful consumption. (for more WRD News)

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Published: 15 January 2025

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Recent research has shed light on a worrying link between Alzheimer’s disease and alcohol use disorder, highlighting how alcohol consumption could accelerate the progression of this devastating condition. Findings from a study undertaken by scientists at Scripps Research reveal that both Alzheimer’s disease and alcohol use disorder share strikingly similar disruptions on a molecular level, offering new insight into how lifestyle choices might influence brain health. According to Shannon Macauley, Ph.D., associate professor of physiology and pharmacology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, “These findings suggest alcohol might accelerate the pathological cascade of Alzheimer’s disease in its early stages”. See more

Additionally, Medical News Today reports that “Excessive alcohol use may put a person at risk of developing certain health problems relating to the brain. This may increase the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease”.

The Molecular Link Between Alcohol Use and Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common cause of dementia, affecting millions worldwide, with cases projected to grow significantly in the coming decades. While ageing and genetic predispositions are recognised risk factors, emerging evidence points to alcohol use as playing a critical role in the disease’s onset and severity.

The study revealed significant overlaps in how alcohol use disorder and Alzheimer’s disease affect the brain. Using advanced techniques to examine brain tissue at an individual cell level, researchers found altered gene activity patterns in both conditions, particularly in pathways linked to inflammation and neuronal damage. These findings are especially concerning because they suggest that alcohol-related disruptions could mirror, and potentially worsen, the effects seen in Alzheimer’s patients.

How Alcohol Harms the Brain

One of the most striking findings from the study was the shared impact on key biological processes in the brain. For example:

• Inflammation: Scientists observed increased activity in inflammatory pathways in people suffering from both conditions. This includes overactive immune cells in the brain, which can contribute to long-term damage.
• Neuronal Loss: Genes involved in essential brain functions, such as communication between neurons, were disrupted. This was particularly evident in advanced Alzheimer’s disease and alcohol use disorder.
• Vascular Damage: The research highlighted damage to blood vessels in the brain. Alcohol consumption was linked to genetic changes that harm the integrity of blood vessels—an issue closely associated with cognitive decline.

These findings underline how alcohol use disrupts crucial functions that keep the brain healthy, suggesting it poses a significant threat in accelerating neurodegenerative conditions.

Understanding the Impact at Different Stages

The study also explored how these gene-related changes differ depending on the stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Early stages showed disruptions in processes like cell repair, while later stages were dominated by severe inflammation and cell death. Alcohol use disorder mirrored many of these patterns, raising concerns that heavy drinking could hasten the progression to advanced Alzheimer’s.

While the small sample size of the alcohol user group in this research suggests more studies are required, the parallels found here cannot be ignored. These findings amplify the importance of addressing alcohol consumption as a factor that influences long-term brain health.

A Wake-Up Call for Brain Health

This research serves as a critical reminder of the risks linked to alcohol use and its broader impacts on health. With Alzheimer’s disease already posing a monumental challenge globally, any lifestyle habit that increases one’s susceptibility must be re-examined with urgency.

The results of this study add to the growing evidence that alcohol’s toxic effects go far beyond short-term harms, affecting brain processes that are vital for memory, reasoning, and overall cognitive function. By raising awareness of these dangers, society has an opportunity to rethink its attitude towards alcohol consumption.

Preventing Harm for Future Generations

The study findings call attention to modifiable risk factors that society must address for a healthier future. When it comes to preventing Alzheimer’s disease or slowing its progression, making choices that protect the brain today is essential. Researchers and advocates alike stress the importance of action against anything that worsens brain health, such as alcohol use, for the benefit of future generations.

Through education, informed decision-making, and societal change, we can work towards a reality where fewer individuals suffer the irreversible effects of conditions like Alzheimer’s disease. There’s still a lot to do, but choosing to drink no alcohol is a good start from today. (Source: Psych)

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Published: 14 January 2025

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Promoting and modelling abstinence in the first place is a key to avoiding Heavy Episodic Drinking

For years, many prevention programmes aimed at reducing alcohol misuse have assumed that shaping young people’s attitudes towards alcohol would influence their drinking behaviour. However, research from the Steps Towards Alcohol Misuse Prevention Programme (STAMPP) Trial, involving over 12,000 adolescents in Northern Ireland and Scotland, challenges this well-worn belief. Instead, the findings reveal something striking—attitudes towards alcohol are more often shaped by past drinking behaviour than the other way around.

Heavy Episodic Drinking Shapes Attitudes

The study found that adolescents’ drinking habits, specifically heavy episodic drinking (HED), had a stronger impact on their future attitudes towards alcohol. When young people engaged in HED, their attitudes tended to evolve to become more positive towards alcohol. This may be because, once they start drinking heavily, they rationalise their behaviour to reduce the tension between their actions and existing beliefs.

Interestingly, attitudes towards alcohol were largely stable unless a major behavioural change, such as transitioning into HED, occurred. For those who didn’t engage in heavy drinking, their attitudes remained largely negative and unchanged, supporting the idea that behaviour is key to influencing future views on alcohol.

The Consistency of Drinking Behaviour

One of the most notable insights was the stability of drinking behaviours over time. Adolescents who didn’t engage in HED were likely to maintain their non-drinking status, while those who began drinking heavily often maintained this behaviour. This consistency highlights the deeply ingrained nature of drinking habits and suggests that prevention efforts focusing purely on attitudes may miss the mark.

Socio-Economic and Environmental Factors

The study also highlighted how a school’s environment influences adolescent drinking. Schools situated in areas of higher poverty saw higher HED rates and more positive attitudes towards alcohol, suggesting that external situations play a significant role in shaping young people’s drinking behaviours. Mixed-gender schools and those in Scotland also reported higher levels of drinking, indicating the influence of localised drinking cultures.

Implications for Alcohol Prevention

These findings are a wake-up call for prevention strategies targeting adolescents. Efforts to reduce alcohol misuse must acknowledge that merely promoting negative attitudes towards alcohol is unlikely to prevent heavy drinking. Instead, the focus must shift to addressing the root causes of drinking behaviour, ensuring adolescents avoid starting on this path altogether.

Given the documented consistency of drinking habits, it’s clear that preventing the onset of HED entirely should remain the ultimate goal. Once drinking patterns are established, they are difficult to reverse, often reinforcing pro-alcohol attitudes that further entrenched risky behaviours.

A Path Forward

The relationship between drinking and attitudes challenges many long-standing assumptions about prevention education. If society wants to truly protect its young people from the harms of alcohol, it must adopt approaches that keep adolescents from experimenting with heavy drinking altogether, rather than relying on shifting their attitudes after the fact.

By focusing on rooting out the behaviours influencing alcohol consumption, we can break the cycle that normalises drinking and ensure that young people grow up free from the influence of alcohol. While the debate over prevention strategies continues, one thing is clear—actions speak louder than attitudes. (Source: WRD News)