Alcohol will often exaggerate whatever mood you're in before you drink.

Alcohol is a relaxant so, in small amounts, it can reduce feelings of anxiety and inhibitions, making you feel more sociable.

In large amounts it can lead to loss of control.

It takes your body an hour to process one unit of alcohol.

An expert panel headed by Sir Liam Donaldson will be publishing guidance later this year. Sir Liam Donaldson, Chief Medical Officer for England stated in January 2009 that "There is serious harm that can come to children if they drink and the main advice is that childhood should be an alcohol-free time. Certainly under the age of 15 there are serious risks". "He also stated that "it is advice to parents. It's their choice at the end of the day within the family setting."

If you're a young person aged 15 or under you need to be aware that consuming alcohol could be have more damaging effects than previously thought.

If you are a parent and do decide to allow your child to drink alcohol, click on the following link for more detailed information.

Official guidelines say that if adults drink within the sensible limits then alcohol won't increase the risk of health problems (no more than 3-4 units per day for males and 2-3 units per day for females)
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One drink too many can leave people feeling out of control - such as slurring words, losing their balance and vomiting, this can lead to accidents, injury and being involved in other incidents.

Alcohol can make people mouthy, argumentative, and aggressive leading anti social behaviour and possibly violence.

Serious overindulgence can lead to alcohol poisoning which could put you in a coma or even kill you.

For some people drinking gradually gets out of control and results either in regular binge-drinking (drinking to get drunk), heavy harmful drinking (drinking larger amounts regularly) or alcohol dependence (being psychically addicted).

Psychological and physical dependence on alcohol can creep up on you. Tolerance gradually increases the more you drink excessively on a regular basis, so you may find you'll need more alcohol to reach the same state. In other words, you may seem to be getting better at holding your drink when that's really a sign of a developing problem.

Long-term excessive use of alcohol causes illnesses such as liver damage, stomach cancer and heart disease.

Alcohol is blamed for contributing to all kinds of problems in the UK, from violent crime to domestic violence and car-related deaths.

The alcohol quiz will be available at a later date. This will test your knowledge about the countries most widely consumed drug.

For more information on alcohol click on the links below

The Jitty - A website for young people in Leicestershire, also contains information and discussion topics on alcohol.

The Leicestershire and Rutland Drug and Alcohol Action Teams Contains clear information on drug and alcohol and where to get help in Leicestershire.

NHS Units Know your units, know your limits. This NHS website has been specifically designed to warn about the dangers of excess drinking.