Researchers have found heavy alcohol intake can lead to more than 60 diseases including Cancer, Cardiovascular disease, Anemia, Mental health issues and liver diseases. But now researchers have found a new test which can significantly reduce the intake of alcohol among people who are willing to reduce drinking.
Researchers at the University of Liverpool developed a computer-based test which is designed to disrupt alcohol intake. A participant willing to take the test has to press a particular button when an image of any drink appears on the screen. They are then advised to take the test at an increased speed and to stop immediately when heard a tone.
After completing the test, participants were offered to drink beer and surprisingly researchers found that the participants, who wanted to practice restraint when alcohol images were shown, drank less beer compared to the ones who did not practice the same.
"It is thought that people who drink alcohol at unsafe levels do so because drinking behavior has become an over-learned habit that they perform without really thinking about it," Professor Matt Field from the University's Institute of Psychology, Health and Society, said in a report by Medical Xpress. "Similar to the practiced activity of brushing your teeth in the morning, a person may regularly drink a few glasses of wine with their evening meal. This kind of habit can lead to serious health problems, and in extreme cases, alcohol dependence."
The team involved in the study focuses on developing this test for online use and encourages the idea of reducing the alcohol intake as part of a wider Medical Research Council funded project.
"We wanted to investigate whether a person could learn to apply self-control automatically, in the hope that this might override the ingrained habit of drinking alcohol. We found that if participants repeatedly exercised self-control in response to images of alcoholic drinks, they drank less alcohol when the opportunity was later offered to them in the laboratory," Field added in the same report by Medical Xpress.
Field aims to make this intervention common and a part of daily routine for people who can benefit with this test.
"We hope to develop this computer intervention to see whether people can use the intervention, outside of the laboratory environment, in their daily lives. This may take the form of an online activity to support those people who want to reduce their intake of alcohol," he said.
