With the holiday season high, there is festive cheer, family gatherings and also an undeniable increases in alcohol consumption that fills the air. Christmas and New Year's Eve celebrations to spring break and bachelor parties and sporting events that bring together huge crowds for celebrations mean that drinking becomes synonymous with partying. But behind the revelry lies a much darker behavior: high-intensity drinking.

Alcohol is the most widely used substance in the United States; it has been reported that 84% of adults aged 18 and older reported lifetime use. Moderate drinking is socially acceptable, but high-intensity drinking is an alarming trend. The behavior of consuming eight or more drinks over a few hours for women and 10 or more for men exceeds binge drinking and significantly increases risk for harm.

High-intensity drinking is far from being just a mere passing concern; it is instead a public health crisis. The burden is even greater as 29 million people in the United States suffer from alcohol use disorder. That has caused over 140,000 deaths annually while accounting for 200,000 hospitalizations and 7.4% of visits to emergency departments in the United States. However, only 7.6% of these affected get treated, thus forming a glaring gap in handling this concern.

What Is High-Intensity Drinking?

High-intensity drinking is a dangerous escalation from traditional binge drinking, characterized by consuming double or triple the standard binge amounts. While binge drinking involves four or more drinks for women and five or more for men, high-intensity drinkers often surpass these levels, leading to blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) exceeding 0.2%—a level that significantly impairs judgment and motor skills.

According to Dr. George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), high-intensity drinking is one of the factors that intensify the risks of injuries, overdose, and death. It is also very highly associated with the onset of AUD, since the chance of addiction increases with increased alcohol consumption per occasion.

Blackouts and Memory Loss Risks

One of the most troubling consequences of high-intensity drinking is alcohol-induced blackouts, periods of amnesia where individuals may appear functional but are incapable of forming memories. Blackouts occur when alcohol disrupts the hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory formation.

Blackouts are often categorized into two types:

1. Fragmentary Blackouts: Characterized by spotty memory, where recalling certain details can trigger partial recollection.

2. En Bloc Blackouts: Significant amnesia for hours, wherein no memory is created at all, even if tried to be recalled.

Aside from memory loss, intense binge drinking is linked with poor decision-making, violence, injury, and conflicts in personal relationships.

Why Holidays and Special Events Are Hotbeds for Excessive Drinking

Holidays and celebrations create the perfect storm for high-intensity drinking. According to research, adults drink nearly double the amount of alcohol during holidays like Christmas and New Year's Eve than they do at any other time of the year. It is during these periods of social gathering, holiday stress, and seasonal sadness that people drink in excess.

For college students, experiences like spring break and 21st birthdays increase the danger. Some studies indicate that students, especially those who travel with buddies to spring break, indulge in more alcohol and make more serious decisions than any student who remains at home or goes with their family to other destinations. Sporting events are, too, notorious for promoting drunk consumption, especially among male customers. Alcohol consumption usually goes high during Super Bowl Sunday, thus leading to games day violence and arrests.

Consequences of Heavy Intensity Drinking

High-intensity drinking impacts not only physical health and mental well-being but also social relationships.

Acute Risks

- Alcohol poisoning

- Severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances

- Hypoglycemia

- Risky sexual behavior

- Injuries and accidents

Chronic Risks

- Liver damage, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis

- Cardiovascular diseases such as arrhythmias and cardiomyopathy

- Neurological damage, including memory deficits and blackouts

- Progression to alcohol dependence or AUD

Psychological Impact

High-intensity drinking is strongly linked with increased risks of depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Poor decision-making during episodes can lead to long-lasting consequences, including damaged academic, professional, or personal outcomes.

How to Address the Problem

Combating high-intensity drinking requires education, early intervention, and accessible treatment options. The NIAAA has defined high-intensity drinking to be distinct from binge drinking and has called for targeted approaches to decline prevalence and associated harms.

One promising treatment option is naltrexone, which a medication helps control alcohol cravings. Encouraging in preliminary evidence, more extensive clinical trials will be necessary to ascertain its efficacy more specifically in high-intensity drinkers.

As we head into the holiday season and other special occasions, it is important to heighten awareness of the dangers of high-intensity drinking. A good understanding of long-term consequences and seeking help when alcohol-related issues arise can be the difference between life and death. Celebrations should be about joy and connection, not about the gateway to harm.

If you or someone you know drinks at dangerous levels or have an alcohol use disorder, there is help available. Remember, for suspected cases of alcohol poisoning, dial 911. In this way, we can foster healthier relationships with alcohol and create safer environments for everyone.

Chickenpox vaccines in UK is now available for all young children on the NHS. This is the first time such protection against chickenpox has been offered. The vaccine will combine with the existing MMR jab, which is given at 12 and 18 month of age that is already known to protect against measles, mumps and rubella. Children up to the age of six can catch up on doses when invited.

What Is The New Chickenpox Vaccine?

The new vaccine is called the MMRV vaccine, where the V stands for varicella, this is another name for chickenpox. It is also expected to reduce the many thousands of families affected by the infection each year and prevent the most severe cases. As of now, parents would have to pay £200 to buy a vaccine privately to protect their children.

From January 1, the MMRV vaccine was introduced into the standard list of children's vaccinations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with Scotland announcing a rollout start date in early January.

How Common Is Chickenpox?

Chickenpox is very common among young children. Some of the common symptoms include itchiness, spotty rash which blisters then scabs over. Children could feel unwell for several days along with fever and muscle aches.

"For some babies, young children and even adults, chickenpox can be very serious, leading to hospital admission and tragically, while rare, it can be fatal," said Dr Gayatri Amirthalingam, deputy director of immunization at the UK Health Security Agency.

Chickenpox is caused by the varicella zoster virus, which is why the letter “V” has now been added to the standard MMR vaccine. The illness mainly affects children, but anyone can catch it at any age.

Also Read: NHS Rolls Out Chickenpox Vaccine For Kids— What Parents Should Know

During the pandemic, chickenpox cases fell sharply due to lockdowns and reduced social contact. As a result, experts believe natural immunity to the virus across the population remains lower than usual.

Although uncommon, complications can include serious bacterial infections such as group A streptococcus, brain swelling known as encephalitis, lung inflammation called pneumonitis, and even strokes. Very young babies under four weeks old face a higher risk of severe illness, as do adults who have never had chickenpox before.

Why Is The NHS Rolling It Out Now?

Until now, chickenpox vaccination was not routinely offered to all children because of long-standing concerns about shingles. Shingles is caused by the same virus, which can lie dormant in the nervous system for years before reactivating later in life, often when immunity weakens due to age, illness, or stress.

In 2009, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization decided against a nationwide rollout, fearing it could increase shingles cases among middle-aged adults. At the time, it was thought that natural exposure to chickenpox helped protect against shingles later on. More recent research from the United States, however, has challenged and largely dismissed that theory, paving the way for the NHS decision.

Micro-habits. What are they? Many claim that these micro-habits can, in fact transform your life. Every new year, we come up with goals and ambitions, while some changes could be long lasting ones, some are small, almost like mundane habits. These habits are not much demanding, but they can fit into your lives seamlessly and change your life, for good.

They do not bring instant transformation, but could help you stay healthier and in fact, live longer.

Here are some micro-habits that you too can adopt.

Movement

Ensure that movement is non-negotiable in your plan. There have been many studies that say that you no longer need 10,000 steps to achieve your fitness goal. In fact, 4,000 steps per day could help you stay fitter. Your fitness journey could start by ensuing that you ensure your body is under movement, whether it is step count, light stretching between meeting and long hour at desk or ditching that escalator or elevator for stairs.

Light Is A Must

Make sure you give expose yourself to enough light. Natural light is important for your body's circadian rhythm. This also supports better sleep, better mood and sharper focus.

Coffee, But Timely

Your body has cortisol that is naturally released in the morning. This hormone helps you to wake up. However, drinking coffee too early could interfere this rhythm, and you may find yourself crashing later in the day. Make sure you drink water and keep yourself hydrated.

Mindful Eating

Ensure that whenever you are having a meal, you are eating without distraction. This also helps you regulate your appetite and you become more aware of your hunger as your body is better able to give the fullness cues.

A Set Bedtime

Try to ensure consistency of when you sleep. If you sleep at the same time each night, it can help you strengthen your circadian rhythm. This consistency will also affect your mood, concentration and energy. The best part, this will help you avoid the social jetlag.

Read: Not Boarded Any Flight And Still Monday Feels Like A Jetlag? You Are Not Alone

Breakaway From Alcohol

While there is no safe limit for alcohol consumption, if you are pressured about long-term leaving alcohol, try to give yourself a break. Try a 7-day no alcohol week, every now and then.

Listen To Your Cravings

If you are craving something salty, chances are your body lacks magnesium. There are many ways that craving tells you a lot about your body. Ensure that you run a full-body check to know what your body lacks. Fulfill these lacks with supplements, however, do make sure that these supplements are prescribed by your GP.

Read Labels

Mindful eating also comes when you start reading the labels of the food items you are buying. This way, you can know what you are putting in your gut system. Pay special attention for added sugars, processed food, and more.

Keep Your Gut-health Healthy

Go for pro-biotics, easy breakfasts like fermented rice, yogurt, khimchi and more. There are many studies that show the connection between gut health and rest of the body. If you keep your gut healthy, you will keep your body healthy too.

Timely Screening

A routine screening would help you stay one-step ahead of any disease. The key is that early diagnosis could cure the disease sooner without reducing the quality of life.

Hundreds of thousands of children are set to receive an additional vaccine under the NHS routine childhood immunisation programme. Health officials have confirmed it will be given alongside the existing MMR jab, which protects children in England against measles, mumps and rubella.

Chicken pox Vaccine Starts By NHS

The decision follows advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation and will see the current MMR jab replaced with a combined MMRV vaccine. This single injection protects against measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox. Studies estimate that chickenpox in childhood leads to around £24 million a year in lost earnings and productivity across the UK. Alongside reducing this impact, the rollout is expected to save the NHS about £15 million each year in treatment costs linked to the illness.

Dr Claire Fuller, National Medical Director for NHS England, said: “This marks a very positive step for children and families, offering protection against chickenpox for the first time and strengthening the range of routine vaccinations we already give to help shield children from serious diseases.

“From now on, the combined vaccine covering measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox will be offered at children’s routine vaccination appointments. This will help keep children healthier, prevent illness caused by these highly infectious viruses, and support the NHS shift from treating sickness to preventing it, while keeping more children safe and in school.”

Recent figures show that around half of children will have chickenpox by the age of four, with nine in ten catching it before they turn ten. Children who develop chickenpox are usually advised to stay away from school until all spots have crusted over, which typically happens about five days after the rash appears.

With the new vaccine in place, fewer children are expected to miss time at nursery or school. This should also reduce the amount of work parents need to take off to look after them.

Who Can Get The Chickenpox Vaccine On The NHS?

Protection against chickenpox is being offered through a new combined vaccine known as MMRV, which replaces the existing MMR jab. The MMRV vaccine protects against measles, mumps, rubella and varicella, the virus that causes chickenpox.

• Children born after 1 January 2026 will automatically be offered two doses of the MMRV vaccine, given at 12 months and again at 18 months.
• A catch-up programme will also provide one or two doses for older children, depending on when they were born:
• children born on or after 1 January 2025 will be offered two doses, one at 12 months and one at 18 months
• children born between 1 July 2024 and 31 December 2024 will be offered two doses, one at 18 months and another at 3 years and 4 months
• children born between 1 September 2022 and 30 June 2024 will be offered one dose at 3 years and 4 months
• children born between 1 January 2020 and 31 August 2022 will be offered a single dose later in 2026
• GP practices will contact families directly to arrange vaccination appointments when they are due.

How Does The New Chickenpox Vaccination Work?

Specialists say adding the varicella vaccine to the NHS childhood immunisation schedule will significantly cut the number of people who get chickenpox, resulting in far fewer severe cases.

While the vaccine does not guarantee lifelong immunity, it greatly lowers the chances of catching chickenpox or developing a serious form of the illness. Serious side effects, including severe allergic reactions, are extremely uncommon.

The vaccine is a live vaccine, meaning it contains a weakened form of the chickenpox virus. Because of this, it is not recommended for people with weakened immune systems due to conditions such as HIV or treatments like chemotherapy.

The change brings the UK in line with countries that already include routine chickenpox vaccination, such as Germany, Canada, Australia and the United States.

In the past, there were concerns that vaccinating children against chickenpox could lead to an increase in shingles later in life, but a large long-term study from the US has since shown this is not the case.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, which advises the government, recommended the introduction of the MMRV vaccine for all children in November 2023.

The government confirmed plans to roll out the MMRV vaccine in August 2025, after new figures showed that none of England’s main childhood vaccinations reached the 95 percent uptake target in 2024 to 2025.

According to the UK Health Security Agency, 91.9 percent of five-year-olds had received one dose of the MMR vaccine. This figure was unchanged from 2023 to 2024 and remains the lowest level recorded since 2010 to 2011.