Leader: A wee tipple and killer drinking are miles apart

IT MAKES for a nightmare headline: "One large measure of spirits could damage your liver". According to researchers at the Swedish Karolinska Institute, drinking a double measure of spirits can increase the risk of inflammation of the pancreas.

The findings have been immediately seized on by that ever vague but hyperactive group, "health campaigners" to explain why Scotland, which drinks a higher proportion of spirits than the rest of the UK, has more ill health due to alcohol abuse.

Could it really be that a nightcap at the end of a tough day now merits health warnings and finger-wagging on the dangers of drink abuse? Not quite. Only when we read further into the details do we discern that between 1 and 3 per cent of heavy drinkers - those drinking more than four or five drinks a day - will develop acute pancreatis over ten to 20 years. With this significant qualification, it is not exactly clear what the research tells us that we do not know or suspect already - that a further large measure on top of four or five earlier in the day - risks damaging your liver. There is a world of difference between the occasional tipple and adding to an already excessive drinking tally. "Health campaigners" need to take care lest they confuse small pleasures with deadly health crimes.