Here's a stat that might make you pause before reaching for that next glass of wine. Research shows that drinking one Here's a stat that might make you pause before reaching for that next glass of wine. Research shows that drinking one bottle of wine carries the same carcinogenic risk for breast cancer as smoking 10 cigarettes.
Let that sink in for a moment. One bottle of wine. 10 cigarettes.
It's the kind of sobering information that doesn’t make it onto wine labels and rarely into the public discourse. But as Dr David McLaughlan will tell you, "The alcohol companies are just not going to share that information with you, so somebody has to".
Dr David McLaughlan is a consultant psychiatrist based in London who specialises in supporting people with addictive behaviours and harmful habits, particularly alcohol use. Beyond his private clinical practice at a prestigious London hospital, he's channelled his expertise into creating Curb, a mobile application designed to help people self-manage their relationship with alcohol and prevent relapse.
His interest in addiction medicine developed during his time as a research fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, where he studied a Bachelor of Biomedical Science (BMSc) in neuroscience. “That was where I fell in love with addiction,” he says.
“Honestly, I thought the way that the brain worked in addiction, it was just fascinating.”
Speaking with Dr David - the fascination he has for the brain and how it works is infectious. His knowledge about the workings of the human brain and the differences in each individual is profound. The beginnings of ‘alcohol dependence’ start in a region of the brain called the nucleus accumbens, where alcohol starts rewriting your brain's operating system. It’s a part of the brain that can make alcohol both seductive and dangerous.
"With alcohol addiction, we see a desensitisation of GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptors because alcohol mimics this neurotransmitter GABA," David explains. "When your brain is exposed to alcohol over a long period of time, it just becomes a bit numb". This numbness creates a dangerous feedback loop - you need more alcohol to achieve the same effect, pushing you further down the path of dependency.
“And then the other thing is when that alcohol's not there, mimicking GABA, you get this rebound excitation. So that's why - although alcohol makes you feel sedated, the morning after drinking you can sometimes feel more anxious and you get that ‘hangxiety’ feeling because that's the rebound effect.”
The long-term effects are even more concerning. Heavy drinking raises cortisol levels in your brain, and “cortisol is neurotoxic,” David says. "It kills brain cells essentially. And that's why you get that shrinking, that atrophy of the brain. It's pretty horrifying when you think about it - alcohol is essentially poisoning your brain.”
Understanding the mechanics of the brain led Dr David to develop Curb, a mobile application that takes an innovative approach to addressing alcohol dependency. Instead of waiting for problems to surface, Curb uses predictive biomarkers on your phone - changes in step count, heart rate variability, and sleep patterns - to identify when someone might be vulnerable to relapse.
Not everyone drinks for the same reason, and understanding your own patterns is fundamental for recovery. Through his research and clinical experience, Dr David has identified distinct types of drinkers that the Curb app helps users identify.
There are ‘Self-Medicating’ drinkers who use alcohol to cope with anxiety or stress, ‘Social Cohesion’ drinkers who associate drinking with bonding and connection, ‘Social Conformity’ drinkers who drink to fit in with their social circles, and ‘Enhancing Drinkers’ who use alcohol to amplify positive experiences.
The app helps users identify their specific drinking pattern and understand their own unique triggers. This self-awareness is particularly powerful when combined with the app's community features and predictive biomarkers. By understanding whether you're drinking to manage stress, maintain social connections, or conform to peer pressure, you can develop more effective strategies to establish healthier patterns and identify potentially triggering situations before they lead to relapse.
The app's effectiveness is remarkable - early pilot studies showed that 92% of users successfully achieved their goals of quitting or reducing alcohol use. One user reported it was the first time they'd managed to stop drinking for more than two weeks since being pregnant. Another said it felt like ‘somebody was holding their hand day by day’ while maintaining their autonomy in recovery.
What makes Curb particularly powerful is its community feature. You can upload an image of yourself, have a vent if you’re having a hard day, or celebrate the wins. Others in the group will respond and keep you motivated. As Dr David explains, there's something called ‘social comparison theory’ where we tend to mimic the behaviour of people around us. The app creates a new normal, a community where ‘not drinking’ is the default. This is crucial because changing behaviour in isolation is incredibly challenging, especially when your social circle might be heavy drinkers.
The urgency for this kind of intervention and education cannot be overstated. While the Gen Z demographic might be drinking less, it's not due to education - we're still not teaching the incredible harms alcohol has on the brain in schools or putting these effects onto alcoholic drink labels.
While Dr David is determined to shift the needle in sharing the harms alcohol has on the brain, his approach isn't about forcing abstinence. In fact, David admits to using the app himself and recognises as a ‘self-medicating’ drinker. Rather than forcing people to quit altogether, the app is about empowering people with knowledge and letting them set their own goals.
"I actually don't tell people to quit drinking, but I feel like my job is to share all the information with people and let them make their own choices".
In a world where alcohol companies spend millions on marketing while downplaying health risks, tools like Curb and the knowledge they're built on represent a counterbalance. They remind us that understanding our brain's relationship with alcohol isn't just academic - it's the key to making informed choices about our health and wellbeing.
Comments